The Cosmic Cycle
by LittleBrewBoy
Summary: When the past meets the present, a new future presents itself. A hero of legend fought against a harbinger of the end, and was victorious. The horror, in its last breath, used the last of its power to send him to the future. To a world covered in darkness. Will he stand by in a world that grows through Bloody Evolution? Not if he gets a say in it!
1. Shattered Star, Splintered Moon

**_"The most beautiful people we have known_**

 ** _Are those who have known defeat,_**

 ** _Known suffering,_**

 ** _Known loss,_**

 ** _And have found their way out of those depths"_**

 _ **-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross**_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Shattered Star, Splintered Moon**

* * *

You know, he probably shouldn't be surprised anymore with the things he'd seen.

Being transported to another world, forced to fight against mythical creatures and unimaginable horrors that dare not be named, single-handedly building castles that scraped the skies, and amassing, as well as seeing an arsenal of weapons that put nuclear warheads to shame, one would naturally assume the worst. But the universe just _loves_ to show him up in his expectations.

One of which being a Squid-God bent on the elimination of you, and the world you walk on.

The monstrosity towered like a skyscraper. It had tentacles on what would be considered a chin, and a vertical mouth with an elastic tongue to pull in prey. Five eyes adorned its face in a semi-circle; with two on the palms of its hands. The top of its brain showed through a hole in the crown of its head, and their upper body contained a hole in the center of its tan brown chest, covered by incredibly strong sickly-green muscle. When looked further down its torso, it starts to degenerate into a few ribs and the base of their spine, simply hovering in the air.

 **[** **The Moon Lord** **]**

 **Health:**

 **?/?**

 **?/?**

 **?/?**

 **?/?**

' _Eh.'_ The man thought. _'They're in the top five weirdest, but short of the top three. Biggest pain in the ass though.'_

Said individual was wearing clothes akin to a plated robe, cut open from the front of the legs and embroidered a glowing white. The torso was glowing brightly enough to see several feet around him, and had pale-blue plates covering the shoulders and pectorals, with smaller plates covering the abs and spine; with cornflower blue clothing under the armor dimly lit beneath them. The plates along the arms were placed between the strange fabric, and were made thin for ease of movement. Four radiant white spikes protruded from the shoulder blades, reaching a length of close to half a foot.

The leggings and greaves were of a similar style; both pale and cornflower blue, with white accents on the armor. There was a plate that hung from the belt buckle, and went down past the knees, also glowing white. Lastly, he was wearing a pale-blue helmet, with white outlines going between and over eyeholes shaped similarly like a cats. There were three white horns on the sides and the top of the helmet, moving from the sides and front to the back respectively.

He had barely a moment to return to his senses and jump from a barrage of death balls aimed at him from the monsters left hand, somersaulting away from the blasts with the aid of mana. He retaliated when a black and spring-green rifle manifested in his hands, and fired luminescent projectiles of the same color into its eye, exploding on impact.

The Moon Lord howled in agony and rage, its eye falling out of its socket and onto the ground of the blue field with a sound splat. The ground trembled in its ire, the eerie darkness surrounding them giving him questions as to what kind of damage their wails are doing to his surroundings. All that could be seen was the moon lord and the man's own armor, glowing faintly in the unending black.

"About bloody time" He muttered to himself, his gun vanishing from his hands like a ghost. The man gave his enemy another once over. "Now how to kill you…"

The lunar god wasn't managing as well as when they started, with scorch marks and glowing green blood centered on the creature's eyes –since they seemed to be the only real vulnerable areas on his body. Whenever they were harmed the monstrosity would come at him with unprecedented fervor. There were other marks ranging across his body, though it wasn't very much to be considered 'fatal', just enough that it looked like patches of its skin we're missing with all the craters it had on its body, showing green muscle mass beneath. Despite his best efforts, getting to the muscle was the best he could manage, since they didn't seem to take damage as easily past that point.

Of course, he wasn't exactly faring much better than them. There were burn marks littering his body; the largest of which were on his chest, upper arms and legs, and a single black mark that went past the side of his already dented helmet. His armor had rips, dents and smoking holes in it from barely dodged attacks, and he was fairly certain that parts of his skin were cauterized from the heat of the beams and spheres. What was once held in pale-blue clasps around the back of his midsection had long since been lost.

The strenuous exercise from the deity had already worn him out, if he took into account his cursing when he stumbled slightly repositioning himself; but it multiplied from fighting for well over ninety-six hours with little to no rest, against an army accumulated from four worlds. The man was breathing heavily and his vision kept blurring every now and then, amplifying his fatigue. It was an honest wonder he was still standing, thinking back on it.

' _I'm going to lose if this goes on for much longer.'_ He thought grimly as he pulled out two staves. _'Need to end this as quickly as I can.'_

The first was golden from end to end, and was close to six feet long. The head was in the shape of a bat wing with a large sapphire orb sitting on it, as well as two smaller orbs floating just above it.

The second staff; just a few inches shorter than the first, was also golden, but with a white plate wrapped around between the bottom and middle. There were yet more blue spheres; two of them perched on top of each-other with a white disc in between them both, with two smaller orbs placed between the others.

Holding the magical artifacts in front of him, he closed his eyes and focused, pouring some of his mana into the orbs of the weapons. The spheres glowed brightly in response, and the man felt as if he'd just opened a door and let someone walk through.

Two beings came into existence in a flurry of small stars. One was a strange gelatinous blue orb. It was a couple feet tall, with a strange yellow mass within that writhed. They seemingly congregated into a ball at its center, forming a pulsating mass.

The second formed in the shape similar to that of a fish, or a pseudo eastern dragon. It was about fifteen feet long and six feet wide, with its tail ending in the shape of a fish tail. It had gold plates covering its back and head from the snout to the middle with a curved solitary horn between its eyes going forward, with six smaller blue spike-like appendages moving to just before the back armor. The back plate was covered in one moderately sized, and four smaller spikes running along it, just ending before the start of its arrow shaped tail.

 **[** **Stardust Cell** **]**

 **Health:**

 **1000/1000**

 **[** **Stardust Dragon** **]**

 **Health:**

 **2000/2000**

Making the wands vanish into fragments of light, He pointed toward their target.

"Keep it busy." He simply instructed.

The light dragon roared and the ball of blue goo writhed and quivered madly, before launching off at high velocity toward the unfathomable enemy.

Seeming to understand where the vulnerable points were, the dragon-kin charged at the beings right hand, attempting to tear it apart with its maw before being swatted away with the back of its– now eyeless –left hand. The empty socket had small tendrils writhing and squirming inside, as if searching for its missing piece.

' _Wow._ Really _working for fourth place aren't you?'_ He thought with a tired grin under his helmet.

Meanwhile, the bulbous cell was shooting some of its own gel into the eyes on its forehead; both in attempt to deter it from firing more beams at them, as well as slowly damaging it from its acidity. The titan growled in annoyance, and tried to grab it with its elastic tongue so it could throw it away from its face. It failed to take into account what it was made of however, and it simply passed through its body like a swimmer in water while it continued to fire its acid gel into their eyes.

While they we're fighting, the man quickly turned around and bolted, making some distance between himself and the enemy. Once he considered himself far enough, he hurriedly turned around and pulled out a sniper rifle in a flash of light.

Taking a moment to steady his breathing and quiet his shaking, he looked through the scope and focused on the beings face, intent on taking out the eye that fired the worst of the attacks. The first shot went wide, hitting one of its many tendrils due to the Goliath gliding out of the way. Despite having a large body, the deity was fast. The second however aimed true, and managed to pierce the iris of its center eye.

The divine beast screeched in its own language, shooting more spheres of light at him as it tried to defend itself from the man's guardians. Unfortunately he was still looking through the scope, and didn't see the incoming projectiles. One of them slammed into his right side, exploding just under the ribs, and creating a small crater where he stood.

" _FUCK!_ " He squawked, attempting to jump away from more incoming projectiles, dropping his rifle in the process.

He managed to dodge the next shot, hitting the ground with a roll in the process before bolting upright and running for his life. The second shot just barely missed, grazing the back of his armor, but leaving him feeling like his back was burning. The last three went wide, flying off in all directions but making just as much devastation wherever they landed, causing explosions and leaving sizable craters. He managed to find temporary vestige behind an outcrop of large rocks, shouting profanity the whole way there.

Calming himself by breathing for a few moments, he took several seconds to assess at the damage the attack did to him.

' _Luckily it didn't seem to harm me to an extreme, though I'll be in agony in the morning…'_ The man analyzed. The armor had a few black holes in it that showed charred and melting skin, but was in relatively good condition despite the strength the attack his aggressor hit him with.

Over the course of his fights with the Moon Lord, whenever he managed to get good blows on them the parts of his skin that came off seemed to be usable in certain forms of crafting. The skin- when read by his inventory –was listed as a metal called Luminite; a tan brown ore with a strange sickly green sheen that glowed dimly off of the material. Whenever he managed to shake the boss off his trail, he tried to see if he couldn't forge the material into certain weapons and armor, and learned of a relatively 'Unique' trait it had.

Apparently Luminite on its own could only be used in making arrows or bullets, but if he added any one kind of the few types of fragments he picked up during what he came to dub the 'Lunar Invasion', then you could change the characteristics of the metal. The type that he used on it was Stardust Fragments; and from what he could understand, it seemed to let him operate more summons than the previous limit, allowing for more maneuverability in battle for him.

 _ ***BOOM!***_

All further thought was interrupted when the outcrop violently exploded. The man was blasted several dozen feet away from the epicentre of the sudden outburst, hitting the ground face first after the first couple dozen. A few seconds later he managed to stop around a hundred feet away from the blast, and left a rather noticeable impression of the direction he flew in the dirt. After a short time the man sluggishly made an attempt at standing, but only managed to get into a sitting position.

"Anyone catch the number of that train?" He groaned, head in his hands as he was still disoriented from the crash, attempting with all of his willpower to remain conscious.

A distinctive splatting sound and a hollow feeling from his heart snapped him fully to reality. Looking through the debris that littered the field around him, he first saw his gelatinous summon decorating the ground in the form of a child's painting, before it vanished into a flurry of stars. His dragon wasn't doing much better, being thrown from one of its hands into the forest behind the abomination, and leaving destruction in its wake.

"Aaand there go my summons" The man said with growing irritation, both at how long this fights been drawn out, as well as how strong the being was that it eliminated the two rather quickly. "Well that was a little disappointing…"

Taking a moment, he lifted the helmet only slightly, while materializing a vial filled with yellow-green liquid, as well as a glass bottle with red liquid that had four spikes on the corners. The man popped the lids off, and hastily drank the contents before chucking them away from him, all while he was focusing on his enemy.

Successfully standing this time, the man materialized an overly-large sword in a bronze colored sheathe, taking hold in the middle. Upon closer inspection the blade seemed to curl at the end and widen in the middle, and had a vertical H guard on its hilt that attached to the scabbard, looking like a fancy metal ornamental Japanese practice sword that was taller than its wielder.

"Right, so you want to dance big boy?" He said, taking hold of the weapon solely by the hilt.

The top of the guard lurched away from the scabbard; showing indents where it locked into place. No longer secured, it slid from the blade quickly and hit the ground with a resounding * _ **Bam**_ *. The blade, now seen to be a gigantic green Dao, did indeed have a curve to the end of it. The middle section expanded slightly, thinning out where the base of the blade met the guard, with three oval holes lining the center.

"Alright." He started, taking a stance where one foot was arched forward while the other was placed behind him; as if he were about to launch forward. The sword was held at shoulder level, the blade of the weapon facing the sky, and pointed at the enemy. " _Let's go._ "

There was a burst of movement, and the man vanished from where he was standing. Reacting on some form of instinct or whether or not it could simply see him move, The Moon Lord attacked with everything in its arsenal, sending spheres careening at the individual running at blinding speeds due to potions and magic.

A squelching noise could be heard as tendril wings that shimmered white sprouted from his back, growing until both were double the length of his body. Flapping the new limbs, the man flew into the air and completely avoided the balls of death. The god responded by firing its beam from the center eye, but missed when he flew back down to the ground and kept running.

The sound of humming was his only warning that the beam was chasing him, and gaining. He pushed more of his magic into his legs in the hopes that he could outrun it, or at the very least match its speed long enough to form a counter-measure to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, it was still gaining on the man, though at less of a pace than it was.

' _Right… Terra Beam to the face then?'_ He thought sheepishly, garnering a semblance of an idea together.

Slowing down to let the beam come closer, he waited several moments until it was within a decent range. Looking back, he noticed it was over thirty feet away from him. Turning their sights forward, he mentally started counting down. At four feet away, he pushed a large amount of his mana into his legs while beating his wings, and jumped as hard as he could to the left, flying over twenty feet and ending in a roll. To his surprise, the beam continued in its direction; passing by the man completely and moving forward for several dozen feet before the beam started to shrink and fade out moments later.

More spheres of light started hurtling at him however, so he had no time to develop theories on it as he flew clear over several of them. As he took a stance in the air a lime-green aura surrounded the blade. Swinging the weapon, a green beam in the shape of a great-sword appeared from the apex of the swing, bolting at high velocity into the center eye and exploding violently. Another guttural roar accompanied the blast, swinging their head wildly as its eye went flying from its socket, leaving a streak of glowing green blood in the process and landing somewhere in the distance behind him. The man gave a slightly demented laugh, before realizing how he sounded.

" _Wow_ … I'm really tired right now." He muttered, before becoming aware of his enemies movements.

Or… lack of movement at any rate. The beast of burdens stayed floating in place, its limbs and remaining eyes staying stock still. It simply stayed floating there, almost like it entered a trance. Taking a moment to look around, the man didn't see anything within his sight changing or moving. He was left staring at the entity like it had grown a second head , all while taking this reprieve to recover as much energy and mana as he could.

"…Did time stop while I wasn't paying attention?" He said between breaths, befuddled at what he was seeing, all while keeping his guard up to his surroundings.

The sound of something wet sliding on top of another grabbed his attention, as he snapped his head back towards the behemoth, entering a sword stance. The muscles that covered the hole in the center of its chest started sliding apart, revealing a green beating heart behind them. A loud thumping noise could be heard throughout the area.

"Okay. It revealed its heart then..." The swordsman stated, before getting noticeably nervous; like an ingrained memory haunting him, his helm was twitching from side to side, looking for an unseen enemy. "Somethings going to pop out, I know it."

Several seconds passed, the sound of the crackling of flames from the devastated field only serving to increase his paranoia, until the deity fired projectiles from its only remaining weaponized eye. Jumping to the right and out of the way of fire, he tucked his wings in and hit the ground with a roll, intent on pulling his green rifle-.

Only to have green veins wrap around his torso.

"What the hell!?" Was all he could say before he was blasted in the back at point blank with several projectiles.

His screams rang out as he exploded out at high speeds into a tree line, demolishing trees and foliage in his flight. His armor was penetrated by the attack, as he could feel the wind during his flight. All he could see was white and most feeling in his body was shot, yet he still faintly discern as he hit a great many obstacles in his forced trajectory, shattering all in his way like a torpedo before finally rolling on the ground to a stop a couple thousand feet away from where he started from. A fight to stay conscious was all he could manage at this point; the pain and loss of blood and flesh making the man close to going into shock. He felt a gentle wind passing by his face, but it felt like agony on his back due to the apparent degree of damage he suffered. He could only imagine the extent done to his body, as he silently wondered in his foggy mind if he could even stand again, let alone survive the next few minutes.

His vision returned to normal some time afterwards, and he finally noticed his helmet had flown off during his unplanned flight when he saw it laying a few dozen feet in front of him. Regrettably the pain he felt on his person returned with a bloody vengeance. He stifled a wail when he tried to lift himself off the ground, and fell flat on his face while holding back tears.

"I've been meeting the dirt too much lately." He griped in a pained voice, disoriented; barely able to form a sentence in his anguish.

With his helm off, one could see dishevelled chestnut hair which would normally run down to just before his neck that curled faintly at the end. He had storm-blue eyes framed in a square face with a slightly small nose and chapped lips, all of which were contorted in pain and torment.

The man turned himself slowly onto his side, so he wouldn't irritate his injuries. He extended his hand in front of himself, as if he was reaching for his helmet that lay several feet in front of him. A Large bottle with red crystalline liquid and two brass rings wrapped around its middle appeared in the air before dropping to the ground with a muffled clunk. Reaching out, he grabbed the concoction by the neck and dragged it towards him at a snail's pace; each second feeling like an eternity. Popping the cork off he went to start drinking, only to violently cough up blood in the attempt, becoming fully aware of the extent of damage done to his body as he looked down. The armor looked black, burned off from the left lower waist to the upper abs, and the flesh underneath had melted off, with skin, muscle, and organs looking akin to putty. His back, from the bottom to the middle had severe burns; smoke still billowing from the injury as his skin bubbled.

Had the blue warrior not been in agonizing pain, he would have vomited the contents of his stomach at the sight. He was glad he couldn't smell any of it; the constant laser fire and smell of death long eroding his sense of smell. He took the time to look towards the upper right corner of his eye to see the full extent of the damage.

 **Health:**

 **45/500**

 **Current ailments:**

 **[Bleeding]: Cannot regenerate health!**

 **Current Buffs:**

 **[Swiftness]: Increases movement speed by 25%**

 **[Wrath]: Increases damage by 10%**

A grunt was all he could make in reply to his question. He should've realized how bad it was from how it looked, but it became force of habit throughout the years to see how he handled certain attacks to his body, in order to better gauge how much he can take before he dies. He was already about a quarter down from all the constant attacks. The only reason why he wasn't in a worse state was due to the amassment of health potions he had on him; to the point that he's just about run out, with only a few middle tier potions for various uses left from the constant conflicts. He attempted to pull the bottled liquid to his mouth again, before he saw a glowing green light in the corner of his eye. Slowly turning his head, he spotted one of the eyeballs he removed from the horror floating in the air in front of him, simply staring him in the eyes as its veins just hung loosely towards the ground. He weakly pulled the dragon staff from flickering lights, in a last ditch effort of saving himself from oncoming demise, only to find the dragon-kin to be nowhere after the staff dimmed.

' _Well… Shit.'_ The man thought blankly, a feeling of resignation shooting through him as the eye started glowing brighter; his oncoming death by atomization. Moments before the blast fired, the man closed his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be quick enough to move with how wounded his body was.

And then he felt a pulse.

A loud clap rang out as the man's eyes jarred open immediately. Moments of surprised wide-eyed silence passed, until a small grin built up on his face when his mind began registering what he was seeing.

' _This place never runs out of surprises, does it?'_

A ten foot tall blue giant came into sight, floating before his eyes, and quite literally slapped the shit out of the floating eye. A gold-esque mask with a single spike on top covered his face, which was framed with three sky-blue horn-like additions lining the sides of their head. They wore pointed pauldrons on its hulky body, with golden bracelets on their wrists. A large metal semicircle with several points sticking out and bent from several angles was floating behind the spaulders, meeting just above the head of the guardian, with a small gold cover placed over the bottom of the hovering torso. Muscular blue skin stood out from its chest, stomach, arms and three-fingered hands. Said hands were the offender that slammed the eye like a volleyball through several trees that now lay toppled over; a few still barely connecting the trunk with the rest of the tree.

 **[** **Stardust Guardian** **]**

 **Health:**

 **N/A**

The hulking figure stayed afloat there for an instant, as if judging if they sent its target on a permanent flight, before turning suddenly and rushing over to the fallen human. The man flinched before hissing in pain for aggravating his wounds. Large digits gently grabbed him by the armpits, carefully lifting him into a sitting position. He looked over, a surprised expression adorning his face, to spot the being hovering over him, a hand on his left shoulder to keep him propped up. Their other hand hovered over him hesitantly, trying to find a way to aid the man without hurting him further. When it finally registered in his brain, he let out a gentle smile to them, in hopes of at least calming the worry in their actions. He pointed over to the fallen potion that lay behind him, grabbing its attention.

"Trying to heal myself up from the sorry state I'm in." The Warrior started. "Kinda need that though."

They remained unspoken, but seemed to understand what he was saying to them as it turned its head toward the item. Carefully, they grabbed the liquid from the ground with its claw-like digits, watching to make sure they didn't spill any from the bottle or shake its precious cargo. The man took hold of the bottle from the neck as they held it in front of them. He took deep breaths, seeming to mentally prepare for something imminent, before chugging the contents down all at once. Grabbing a small piece of wood from nowhere, he quickly shoved it between his teeth.

From old stories, they say that these potions would make one feel as if they've never been harmed to begin with. That it would regenerate the lost parts of you without any consequence.

They are _Fucking Liars._

The man grit the wood _hard_ as the wounds on his person felt like they were burning at an unreal degree. His body regrew tissue at an abnormal rate. Bones creaked, new flesh squelched, and organs mended themselves to their original state. Nerves were alight as they reconstituted in the newly grown area, causing muffled screams from the blue warrior as he was held still by the apparition, with tears streaking from tightly closed eyes as intense pain ripped through his system. Several agonizing seconds passed by before the extreme sensations finally abated when the open wound was halfway filled in. The wood fell from his mouth as he took deep, gasping breaths of cold air into his system, his hands now in the dirt as he quietly sobbed. A greater portion of the pain had abated from his system, but still felt sharp stabs if he bent incorrectly. All that seemed to remain was the burns on his back and his half regenerated stomach.

 **Health:**

 **245/500**

 **Current ailments:**

 **[Bleeding]: Cannot regenerate health!**

 **[Potion Sickness]: Unable to use health recovery items!**

 **Current buffs:**

 **[Swiftness]: Increases movement speed by 25%**

 **[Wrath]: Increases damage by 10%**

"Damn sight better than it was" He commented with a coarse voice, suitably exhausted from recent events.

Turning around, he took note to the absence of the mad god, and couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't chased him down from his apparent crash landing. Leaning over, the man grabbed his helm and placed it back on his head, before taking his dragon staff in his hands again. The guardian positioned behind him as he tried to summon the dragon to no avail. He stood there for several seconds, before going wide eyed and smacking himself in the head. He was an idiot for not realizing sooner, but to be fair he is pretty sleep-deprived at this point.

Adrenaline is a _Wonderful_ drug.

He half ran through the debris he made so he wouldn't cause more pain than he dealt with, with his glowing shadow looming behind him. In his stride, he found his blade embedded in the dirt; he must have lost it during his preemptive flight. Taking it into his hand, he turned it into starlight with the intent on using it if such time that it became needed, which he knew it probably would. They ran for several minutes, keying in just how far he went when he was launched, before finally meeting the clearing again, and catching a glimpse of something peculiar.

The dragon he summoned hadn't dissipated as he originally thought; he figured that out in the forest when the third summon he tried didn't pull him back into this plane of existence closest to him, since it was currently biting the moon lord in its hand. Luminescent blood gushed from one of the remaining eyes on its person as it shrieked. However, the thing that perplexed him was the fact that it looked as if it had two extra segments put into their body. Looking at the staff, he pulled it in front of him and attempted another summon. To his amazement, another grew into place as it extended in length, growing slightly bigger in height in the process.

"That's totally awesome!" The blue warrior shouted with a childlike gleam in his eyes. The horror turned in his direction, clearly hearing his shout, causing the man to pale under his helmet. "Oh shit."

An eye came hurtling at them, a beam blasting from its iris in its flight. The giant flew in front of his charge as he ran left while materializing his black rifle. The stabbing pain returned full force, but was ignored due in part to the focus for combat he built up over time, and his adrenaline raging in his systems again. He took aim at the beast's heart, hoping that he could hit them despite the distance between and that his summons would watch out for him. Only a few of the many plasma bursts managed to hit its core, and all of the bullets fired went wide, despite his best efforts.

He would need to get closer in order to be more effective, but recent events held him back from doing so. His recent pain and suffering, coupled with intense sleep deprivation was causing him to second guess his actions. Sweat could be felt from the corner of his brow as he fidgeted in place, trying to find the choice that would end with the least amount of pain on his part. A loud thump compelled him to turn to his guardian, spotting him holding down one of the offending eyes as beams of light repeatedly ground themselves into the earth, creating a large molten mass beneath them.

The existence looked at him and nodded, as if telling him not to hesitate. It was as if…

' _Can they read my thoughts?'_ he realized, stunned. Several surprised moments passed in silence, before the star knight suddenly bolted full speed in the direction of the abomination. His body and soul understood seconds before his mind did as he ran; everything he faced, all the pain he endured, was so that he might be able to return home and live the rest of his life in relative peace. True, after everything he did that led towards this would never be erased… But at the very least he'd have those to help him cope, and adapt to his homeland again.

' _If they don't consider me a monster for what I've done…'_

Shaking his head to free his mind, he noticed his dragon attacking the beast with increased fervor; seemingly resonating with his renewed ideals and determination by keeping the spotlight on them, biting ever deeper into its other eye and increasing the volume of their screams. Sounds from the forest signalled the other optics return to the fray; he had to act fast. Pulling his green blade into existence, he poured mana into his legs and turned into a speeding bullet, intent on finishing the fight without any more delays. The being attempted to make distance between them, but the intense pain from the warriors dragon biting into his eye slowed them down. Closer and closer the behemoth became, until at last the man jumped high into the air and expanded his wings as far as they could go, looking like a white and blue blur. The audible sound of metal penetrating flesh seemed to resound loudly in his ears, as all other sounds blurred from his hearing.

The ground was ripped to shreds from the unholy screams the eldritch horror let loose.

A blade through the heart passed through its sight; the man's hand still grasping the hilt as his feet were planted on the sides of the hole. The beast made an attempt to grab at him, only to have the tail of the dragon wrap around its wrist to obstruct it from doing so. Trying and failing multiple times to free itself, it tossed and turned in vain to remove its attacker. The man held his free hand out and materialized his rifle again, placing the barrel in the center of its core as he shouted at the beast.

" _Game over, asshole!_ "

Explosions and screams echoed through the air as salvo after salvo of bullets and plasma pierced its heart. The man's hand and body roasting through the intense heat of his gun connecting with its target at point blank range. Attacking like this would cost him some HP, but was necessary to exterminate the so-called 'End-bringer'. The Dragon tightened its hold around its hands, pulling them close enough that it was acting like handcuffs; acting as a barrier for The Man by absorbing the blows from the frenzied eyes trying to obliterate him, and further hindering their quarry. The attacks from both the eye he was biting into and the one that chased his charge was wearing away at his health.

The shrieks very slowly started to die down in his assault. Minutes passed repeating the process, before a roar of green fire launched The Dragon and him from the being, crashing hard onto the dirt below; The Dragon fading out from taking massive amounts of attacks on his own body. The blue warrior bounced several times before rolling to a stop several dozens of feet away from his quarry. The front of the armor hissed from the heat it was emitting; the forearms worst of all. They simply lay there, groaning in pain from his suicidal charge with his hands clenched tightly, until he slowly lifted himself into a slight sitting position.

Four days of consciousness, intense fighting, pain, and blood loss were starting to take its toll; his eyes refusing to focus. Ragged breathing signalled his extreme state of exhaustion. The body was starting to shut down to recover. The man's vision fixated on the sight to his left, holding steady just enough to make out what was occurring.

The beast he was fighting against, the one that had destroyed so much already, was quite literally _exploding_ where it was. Glowing green cracks spread across its form, heralding apparent self-detonation. The warrior let out a deep sigh, his body relaxing almost instantly as he fell onto his side again. Somehow, he managed to pull a win out the shit-show he just dealt with. They found it hard to believe, honestly. The land around him was quite literally devastated. Smoking craters surrounded the open field, and a couple dozen trees were knocked over or burnt to ash down to the flaming stumps; Stones that were used as shields were nothing more than molten slag.

The man let out a quiet, coarse laugh as he laid there, feeling on top of the world despite the hell he went through.

" _ **Star… dust…"**_

He just barely picked it up; a small, rough voice among the cacophony raging around him. His addled mind couldn't quite register what was happening. Was there someone else here, or was his guardian speaking to him?

" _ **Star… dust..."**_

The voice grew louder; he felt the vibration through his bones as his blood froze in his veins. They turned instantly looking at the horror as it pointed its finger at him. This thing was _speaking English_?

" _ **STARDUST!"**_

The earth trembled from its voice as it roared; radiating with light to the point of blindness.

"…Oh son of a bitch."

A tremendous explosion tore the earth asunder as the world was engulfed by light.

* * *

When he regained consciousness, the first thing to come back to him was the pain.

It meant to him that he was still alive; to which he was very grateful, don't get him wrong. The man just wished he could do without the feeling of agony coming from his half healed side pressing into the dirt. And after a four day long fight no less!

Letting out a hiss through clenched teeth, the man slowly flipped himself over so he was lying with his back on the ground. The fact that his arms felt like lead during their movement told him he hadn't passed out for very long. He honestly wasn't quite sure whether he should consider that a good or bad thing, though he lent more towards bad due to lack of sleep. One couldn't really blame him for that; especially after the past four days of fighting to the death against aliens. At this point, he honestly wished there we're someone else to deal with saving Terraria while he had a day off.

' _God, that sounds so pleasant.'_ He thought glumly, opening his eyes a crack.

The sky looked to have returned to its normal hue, so either he flew like a rocket due to another attack from the beastie, or he finally killed him. Oddly enough, he didn't feel any different from that last attack of theirs. After half a minute of consideration, the man looked to the upper right of his vision.

 **Health:**

 **72/500**

 **[Potion sickness] has worn off!**

 **[Swiftness] has worn off!**

 **[Wrath] has worn off!**

 **Current ailments:**

 **[Bleeding]: Cannot regenerate health!**

 **[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

' _Traded one problem for another…'_ The blue warrior whined in his head. _'And I used up my last health potion too!'_

Lying there grumbling, he sat in silence, content with simply resting his body now that he finally had some peace and quiet for himself.

' _Well… at least it's a nice night…'_

Looking into the black sky, he belatedly realized the time. Thoughts like ' _How long was I passed out?_ ' and ' _Where are the creatures of the night?_ ' passed through his head. He bent forward in attempts to stand, but immediately winced in pain from his wounds, and fell onto his back again.

When his eyes unclenched he noticed he was lying on a curve; and after several moments of delayed thought and roaming eyes, that he was laying in the center of a thirty-foot, smoking crater. Chunks of charred wood, leaves and other growth layered the hole. Looking over the lip, the warrior spotted several trees, and winced at the damage his crash landing had caused to the surroundings. His eyes stopped upon a glow over the lip of the depression, and, moment after moment it seemed to increase in radiance.

Something was coming this way.

His body tensed, and whatever remained of his adrenaline kicked into gear. The warrior forced his body to move as he hissed in discomfort, standing awkwardly in a pitiful attempt to defend himself. The light finally past the crest of the crater, making the man shield his eyes from its brilliance. When they finally adjusted; what he assumed – and dreaded – to be the Horror returning for another round, he instead found himself looking upon the golden mask of his Guardian.

His body collapsed from relief and fatigue, falling face first into the dirt. He would have blacked out, were it not for his guardian gently turning him over; taking care not to disturb his wounds, and picking him up bridal style. The man couldn't help but snicker at the situation.

"My hero." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around his neck while making his eyes flutter. The giant stared at him, before letting his arms drop, making the man yelp in pain as he hung there. "Okay! I'm done! Please help!"

The being shook his head before hefting him in his arms again, slowly floating out of the crater. He saw an endless forest when they finally past the lip of the crater; and the strangest thing?

There we're all sorts of them.

Countless trees of many varieties made up the forest they found themselves in; ranging from jungle trees, forest trees, pine trees, boreal trees, and palm trees, and others he couldn't recognize. Vines and foliage were everywhere; and while they bore some similarity to the forests and jungles he came across, it seemed to be mish-mashed together. They we're in a forest that, by all accounts, shouldn't be able to exist.

…Then again, what else is new?

A great deal of the trees surrounding the crater had either been blown to pieces by the impact, or had fallen over from the force of his crash landing, leaving the man wincing at the mile-wide devastation. Instead they content themselves with simply roaming the wide forest they resided in for the moment, enjoying the peace and quiet that finally came to them, from what he assumed was his abrupt landing scaring away any local wildlife. The Warrior's eyes drooped from the sound of crickets, sleep calling to him like a siren before being jostled to cognizance by the Guardian. They motioned with their head to the wound on his side in what seemed to be worry.

"Ahh, don't worry about that, I have something for it." He soothed. Looking around, he pointed towards a large Boreal-like tree. "Lay me over there please?"

The being nodded in confirmation; closing the distance in a single moment, and getting a surprised gasp from the man. They were about thirty meters away from the tree he pointed at, and they crossed the distance in less than a second, all without him suffering from whiplash. Either he used magic to shield him – which he finds the more likely option in his opinion – or they just broke the laws of physics. A grunt of pain worked its way past his lips as his Guardian leaned him on the tree in a sitting position.

"Thank you kindly my friend." The man said with a pained voice. "Okay, I know I should have it here somewhere…"

Lifting one of his hands, he closed his eyes. A kaleidoscope of lights appeared, seeming to dance in a circle in front of his hand. Reaching forward his hand entered the light, but didn't appear from the other side. Minutes passed, and several swears were uttered under his breath as his arm shifted within the light, before an exclamation passed his lips as he pulled his hand back, reappearing from whatever plane of existence it came from as the light faded. From his palm was a red and magenta bracelet with a hexagon-cut, burnish set ruby.

 **[** **Charm of Myths** **]**

 **+0.5 Health regeneration/m (Ignores [Bleeding])**

 **+Reduces [Potion Sickness]**

He really _did_ love the fact that one of his abilities was to discern the traits, and names of an item or creature, its god damn helpful! True, it didn't always work, but most of the time, it made hunting for food or treasure a great deal easier.

' _Kinda wish I had my celestial stone, though…'_ He grumbled. _'It'd go even faster with that!'_

He fumbled with the charm a few times until he was about to slide it onto his wrist, when he stopped and looked at his attire, noticing for the first time how much of a train wreck he looked like.

He could feel a rather sizeable hole from the bark on his partially bare back. His arms, legs, coattails, and torso looked akin to burnt Swiss cheese with the amount of holes and scorch marks that littered his clothing, the armor plating either looking melted, or blown off. Pulling off his helmet, he winced at the dents that cluttered it. The horn that went over his helm was now crookedly pointing upwards from the front; the light that once shined brilliantly had dimmed significantly to the point of being considered a nightlight.

"Jesus..." He groaned. "I know I gotta thank the armor for saving my life, but the repairs are going to take a while."

Pulling the sleeve of his arm revealed that the skin of his wrist had fused with the sleeve due to the heat as some of his skin abruptly ripped off by yanking it, making him hiss in pain.

"That's just lovely." He growled, slowly peeling back the fabric on his arm to minimize the discomfort. Carefully he slipped the bracelet passed his hand. Once it touched the skin on his wrist, he immediately felt a stab of pain from his body. He must've been more hurt than he thought. Looking over into the corner, he looked at his health and buffs.

 **Health:**

 **72/500**

 **[Bleeding] has worn off!**

 **Health Regeneration has increased by 0.5**

 **Current ailments:**

 **[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

The warrior let out a sigh as he slumped, leaning against the tree heavily. His eyelids felt like lead as they started to droop. All the excitement from the past four days had worn him out completely, and now that he made sure he wouldn't kick the bucket overnight, his body started to shut down again. And this time, he fully agreed with it, welcoming the escape from the pain he felt, the void of dreams that came with it.

His head dipped forward as his guardian looked on at the sight, recognizing its master's slumber. Turning around, he stood tall in the moonlight; promising pain to whatever dared attack his charge. Staring onward, they couldn't help but notice the silhouette of back humanoid creatures with glowing red eyes growling beyond the trees in front of The Guardian and his master…

…And a broken moon hovering above them.

* * *

 **Hey there yall, LittleBrewBoy here!  
** **Just a bit of a heads up to a few tweaks I made between the actual game and the story itself that you've no doubt noticed.**

 **First and foremost, you'll note how I've given certain summons a health bar. The reasoning for this is due to being quite a bit overpowered otherwise. The main OC alone is incredibly strong as is, and a minion that can never die would be a bit much.**

 **Secondly, the use of his magic. This i can no doubt understand goes against the game in the fact that he uses magic in ways other than with an item located within the game itself. Don't worry, all will be explained later on in the story.  
**

 **In the meantime...  
Stay Sober!**


	2. Monochrome

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter Two**

 **Monochrome**

 _*Thump!*_

 _*_ _ **THUMP!**_ _*_

 _*_ _ **CLAP!**_ _*_

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

A sharp breath passed his lips as he was rudely awoken. His body lurched forward slightly, preparing to attack an unseen enemy, before his sluggish mind registered what he was seeing. Now, don't get him wrong; living in a place like Terraria, one tends to believe in almost anything. He fought against the undead on a daily basis, walked across _Hell Itself_ , and literally found unicorns and dragons; basically living the fantasy life of most children and a few adults. This though…

This was new.

His Guardian, who seemed to have protected him while he slept, was holding what he could only describe as a mutated wolf. Its body structure and hands indicated it was bipedal, and looked like it had bones protruding along its spine, arms, fingers and feet. Even the top of its face seemed to be solid bone with some red lines running across. Glowing red eyes stared malevolently at him, snarling all the while.

 **[** **Beowolf** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **300/300**

…Comparatively it was pretty weak in terms of health. Maybe it wanders in a pack?

' _I wonder if 'Grimm' is its faction?'_ He thought, going into research mode. Normally, it just told him their name, but now it was including subtext.

So something _did_ change.

The man moved to stand, before stopping himself when he remembered the wounds on his body. Looking over, he found that his stomach injury had finished sealing the skin. Standing, he bent his body in various directions, and felt some pain, though little enough that he could still fight without it impeding him in any great respect. Peeling back the sleeve of his coat peeled off the dead skin that had fused with the fabric. Doing so with the other sleeve; as well as the pant legs just in case, he looked to the corner of his vision.

 **Health:**

 **467/500**

 **Mana:**

 **200/200**

 **[Weak] has worn off!**

"Nice." A small grin grew on his face despite having bags under his eyes, before looking back to his new quarry. "Now what in the hell are you; part of a new event maybe?" Another growl came in reply.

 _*_ _ **SNAP!**_ _*_

…And apparently the Guardian didn't appreciate its answer, the Beowolf's throat now looking similar to a crushed can. The being threw it's corpse off in a random direction.

"Dude, why'd you kill it!? I wanted to see if it could talk!" The man pouted. His protector poked his fingers together, looking at the ground in embarrassment. A sigh worked its way past his lips, before scratching the back of his head. Chances were he'd come across another in due time, he just had to be patient. Didn't mean he wouldn't grumble about it though.

Looking up, the man finally took notice to the oncoming dawn; the sky bearing a lighter hue. The falling leaves from the tree and the cool air indicated an autumn biome, surprising him slightly as this was something he had never encountered in his days on this world. Could this be an after-effect of defeating The Moon Lord perhaps? Making the seasons flow naturally? Or maybe he simply unlocked a new area with different loot he… could…

…Wait…

The man stood straight as an arrow.

"LOOT!" He yelled, making the giant jump slightly. Manifesting the kaleidoscope he reached his hands through it, searching for something desperately. The feeling of a large, rough bag passed over his hands minutes later, making him grin in relief and excitement. Pulling his hands out, he found himself looking at a tan bag embroidered with green lines and an eyeball.

 **[** **Treasure Bag (The Moon Lord)** **]**

" _ **Open me!"**_

"Oh _Fuck Yes!_ " The warrior shouted, doing a strange little dance in place while laughing like a maniac. Doing another spin, he froze in place when he noticed his summon staring at him what he assumed to be a slack jawed expression. The man blushed slightly, laughing sheepishly while he ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry about that. These little bags tend to have really good items in them. What you get varies from bag to bag, but it's still awesome."

The Guardian gave a slow nod, apparently still processing what it had seen. _This_ is the one it has to protect now; a treasure addict, and possible battle junkie if what they gathered from his mind was any indication. They face palmed, mentally bemoaning their fate.

The man stood there, shifting his weight between his feet while he stared at the bag, his fingers holding its hem.

"Alright, come on baby, give me something good!" He said, before ripping the top open. A bright light engulfed the area, making him drop the bag as he covered his eyes. A loud _*Clank!*_ was heard before the light started to fade. He let his arms slowly drop as his eyes adjusted, the blur slowly fading until he could see the large pile of equipment and items lying on the floor, the first of which being a tan brown ore that covered all the other items in great numbers.

 **[** **Luminite Ore** **] x104**

" _ **A pebble of the heavens."**_

" _Nice._ " A large smile was plastered on his face. This would certainly help in repairing his armor and making more ammo. Placing his hand on the mass of ore, a whirlwind of starlight surrounded them to the point of being unable to see them, and when it faded, they were gone. The first weapon he saw was, what he assumed to be, a black and white gun of some sort. It had a large white base with a small circle in its center that lit up blue, with a slender black tube that also had a small see-through opening on top that glowed in the same color. The muzzle had a white piece located just below it, with three small prongs place around the opening in a circle.

 **[** **Portal Gun** **]**

 **+Create two portals that will be linked anywhere within a distance of 1350 feet**

 **-Needs 6 feet of flat space to place a portal**

The man whistled, looking at the wicked little device. Grabbing the gun, the man located two triggers at its back. He turned around and placed one blue portal on the large boreal tree he had slept on and another at his feet, noting how the gun turned yellow while also making a yellow portal, before jumping into it. Passing through, gravity took hold; causing him to fall on top of his new toy with an "Oof!", irritating the wound on his stomach a little. The man laid there for a couple seconds before bursting out laughing.

"Oh I'm going to have a _lot_ of fun with this."

Standing, he found a small button on the bottom of the barrel that when pressed made the portals close. Giving a small nod, the man dematerialized the item and walked back to the pile, locating a…

What in the heck?

"…Is that a dolphin?" The star knight muttered, eyes wide.

 **[** **Intimidating S.D.M.G. (Space Dolphin Machine Gun)** **]**

" _ **It came from the edge of space."**_

 **Durability: 8000/8000**

 **77 Damage**

 **14% Critical strike chance**

 **Very weak knockback**

 **Insanely fast firing speed**

 **+50% chance to not consume ammo**

 **+5% increased velocity**

 **+15% Increased knockback**

Said dolphin was grey, and had metal placed around its middle, going around its fins and ending just before its eyes. Leaning forward slightly he poked its tail and, to his relief, found himself touching a hard plastic. Hefting it into its arms found it rather weighty, having to be cradled to his side to be held properly. Further investigation revealed a small grip located beneath its fins. Grabbing the space dolphin, the man turned to a pine tree; all the while linking his new weapon with his ammo supply, feeding it through his inventory. He placed his left hand on top of the weapon, with his right arm circling around its side and meeting the grip.

Moving his legs into position, the man braced his legs, turning his head slightly and pulled the trigger. A loud _*Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta*_ filled the air as the machine gun unleased lead at twelve rounds per second; its muzzle flash looked unending as the tree toppled over in less than ten seconds. An evil smile worked its way on his face despite wasting several dozen rounds as he let go of the trigger, letting it fade from existence.

Looking back to the ever-shrinking pile, he grabbed a small globe placed on a purple pedestal.

 **[** **Gravity Globe** **]**

 **Allows the holder to reverse gravity**

That's…Really good actually. He wouldn't need to make another Gravitation Potion again; which is good since materials are rather hard to come by since eliminating 'The Corruption' and 'The Crimson'.

Shrugging, he pocketed the item and looked at the last object, which seemed to be a red sword comparable in size to his Terra Blade; if not a little larger. Lifting it with his hands, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the blade weighed about the same. The sword was shaped like a Chinese Dao, with the hilt and guard more akin to a medieval western longsword. The front end curved, with the middle edge and back having yellow and red serrated teeth respectively. The center of its guard was shaped like a yellow star.

 **[** **Large Star Wrath** **]**

 **Durability: 15000/15000**

 **110 Damage**

 **4% Critical strike chance**

 **Strong knockback**

 **Very fast swing speed**

 **+Fires three stars at a designated location, dealing double the swords damage**

 **+12% Size**

A large, toothy smile and an evil giggle made the Guardian shiver, as the man stared at the weapon with stars in his eyes.

"Were going to be fast friends, you and I." He said, rubbing his cheek along the flat of the blade. "Making your sheath is going to be _pretty_ interesting."

Finally finished with his new loot, the man took in the surroundings again, his new weapon dematerializing. A tree lay toppled to his right; probably the thing that woke him. It also showed him there was possibly more than one Beowolf that came here, meaning they might be fairly common in this region. Considering they haven't come loping over the trees remains, it was safe to say they were dead. Hopefully the next time he comes across them, he can get a better look for an accurate sketch.

The sky had changed from a dull grey to a vibrant light blue, with orange starting to crest the horizon behind them. He was still pretty exhausted. If the indication to his health was any indication he had only slept for a little over two hours. He was surprised to see the Beowolf corpse dissolving into particles; its torso the only solid piece remaining.

"So their bodies literally fall to pieces when you kill them." He thought out loud, watching as even the organs weren't spared. He chuckled to himself a bit. "Wish zombie corpses did that."

Taking one last look around – to which he noticed a few trees tipped over from what he assumed was Grimm being thrown at them. It was amazing he didn't wake sooner! – He grabbed his helm at his feet and placed it back on his head. He turned in a random direction and walked, motioning for his Guardian to follow, with them almost responding immediately by taking up position behind him. Having them around was all well and good, but he would feel safer if he found a cave or something similar he could hole up in without worrying about being attacked in his sleep. Not to mention with his armor in this massive state of disrepair, he would need to switch out to his modified hallowed armor again. Which probably meant his new friend would vanish.

Damn shame too. They're incredibly helpful.

They walked along the trail, listening to birdsong now that they returned, and the sound of fallen leaves blowing in the wind. It was serenely peaceful, and he was honestly surprised how much he missed the fall season. Kind of wanted to build a pile of leaves just to jump in it, but thinking about that made his heart ache with old memories of his family.

 _God_ he misses them.

They walked along for several more minutes, before a stray thought crossed his mind.

' _Wait, do I still have my Terra Blade and Vortex Beater?'_ He thought with a bit of concern. True, the rifle was a recent addition during all the fighting, but that blade of his had been with him for _years_ and honestly he built a pretty strong bond with the weapon. He even reforged it several dozen times to get a damn good bonus.

Reaching his hand out, he closed his eyes to see if they were still connected to his hotbar. While he had his inventory, if he placed ten items within the forefront of it, he could pull it out simply by will. He hadn't been able to achieve anything higher despite a decade of practice, much to his chagrin. Would have made things even easier, but considering what he fought with shocking regularity, he won't look a gift horse in the mouth. A couple of seconds passed until he felt it's magic still connected, smiling as he found and materialized it.

Only to have it immediately die out as he inadvertently let a hiss out from between his teeth.

' _Oh god…'_ Was all he could think while wincing, looking at a large crack that ran on both sides of the blade. It looked fairly deep as it ran from the root of the blade, to almost the tip. He would have run a finger along it to feel out the damage, if he wasn't worried that the slightest touch would cause it to shatter.

 **[** **Legendary Terra Blade** **]**

 **Durability: 326/13000**

 **109 Damage**

 **9% Critical strike chance**

 **Very strong knockback**

 **Very fast swing speed**

 **+Fires a magical projectile that penetrates three enemies**

 **+15% Damage**

 **+10% Swing speed**

 **+15% Knockback**

 **+10% Size**

"God damn, that's worse than the last time…" The warrior said quietly, brows furrowed in thought. The previous time this happened it was around three months after he made it, and even then the damage wasn't this extensive. Almost got himself killed in the process because he didn't carry another sword on him as backup. After that he learned to keep a few hallowed and demonite bars for repairs, and a few extra melee weapons just in case, so all he really needed was an anvil to work with.

He just wasn't sure whether or not an iron anvil would work. Technically, it should, since the weapon itself is already constructed. But just in case, he'll have to reheat the blade and bars to make sure they become part of the blade easier, as well as use his mana in its repairs to keep it held together just in case. That, and make another mold for the weapon so they don't pour into its holes.

He'll be damned if he leaves a 'Legendary' weapon to break. After the two hundred gold he spent to reforge it to this state? He'd regret it for the rest of his life!

Carefully placing it back into his inventory, he pulled out his rifle, and winced lightly. The muzzle and front of the gun had melted considerably from the intense heat of the constant fire he laid out on the Moon Lords heart, looking akin to deformed plastic.

 **[** **Vortex Beater** **] {UNUSABLE}**

 **Durability: 5582/7000**

" _ **The catastrophic mixture of pew pew and boom boom."**_

 **50 Ranged damage**

 **4% Critical strike chance**

 **Very weak knockback**

 **Very fast firing speed**

 **+66% Chance to not consume ammo**

 **+Explosives are guided**

' _Ah shit, the barrel must've melted too.'_ He thought glumly, before sighing. Luckily, he still had the ancient manipulator on him; didn't have enough time to leave it behind after dealing with that psychopath. _'An easy repair, at least.'_

He would need a small clearing in order to place it though. Maybe they should head back?

The distant sound of flowing water stopped him in his tracks. Closing his eyes and listening for a moment, he focused on where the sound was coming from before turning in its direction. A riverbank would be more than adequate for starting repairs on his gun; not to mention he could clean himself up. He was layered with ash, wood slivers, both his and the horror's blood and more.

Must look like someone who fought a one man war, which he did. It was too bad he couldn't repair his armor along with his gun, but he needed to turn the ore into ingots to remove impurities. Otherwise it might make the armor unstable, or god forbid cursed. He _really_ didn't need a 'Moon Lord Junior' on his hands. Last time something like that happened, well…

He shivered at the memory, as the sounds of rushing water grew louder. Finally reaching it, he noticed its size was exceptionally large for a river. He would've called it something more, but his lingo for flowing bodies of water was always a little vague. Eyeing his surrounding carefully to make sure there were no hostiles, he walked over to the water's edge. It was calm enough to clean himself off; the water flowing gently to his left. Taking a moment to remove his armored glove, he put his hand into the liquid to find it cool; the river not having the time to warm up in the sun just yet.

Shrugging, he went to pull off his clothing before he heard yet another racket. It sounded as if it was coming from further up the river, but he couldn't place who or what was making the noise over the sound of flowing water. Slowly the hubbub got louder, making him inch toward the trees at a snail's pace, trying not to alert anything that might spot him through movement. Eventually it got close enough for him to spot two things.

First, he could understand what they we're saying.

And secondly, their voices sounded like that of children.

He grabbed his glove as quick as he could, and literally threw himself back into the trees as he had a small freak-out. It was one thing to be found by a monster; those he could handle if it were anything like the Beowolf he encountered. But other people, let alone _Children_? They'd take one look at him and run away _screaming_ with how he looked! He didn't want to be considered as a mutant psychopath; and with the amount of dried green blood on his body, they just might! It was better to wait them out until they passed him; figure out whether or not there's a village close by he could go to for rest and repairs. His Guardian dimmed their glowing body, moving further into the forest to stay hidden.

"-on't see what their problem is Lily!" A tan-skinned, short black haired boy said to what he assumed was a little girl, throwing their hands wildly in the air. The warrior took the time to pull out a set of binoculars to get a better look at them. The boy was wearing a simple white t-shirt, along with blue jeans with a black fuzzy belt, and sturdy leather boots. "We didn't even _do_ anything and their blaming us!"

Moments after he said that, an indication popped up

 **[** **Troy Spraggan** **]**

 **(Faunus)**

 **Health:**

 **70/70**

' _Cool name, but what the heck does 'Faunus' mean?'_

"You know they can't help it right now." She said calmly, a soft lilt to her voice that confirmed her gender. She was wearing a loose orange hoodie that covered her face. He couldn't see much but there seemed to be small lumps at the top of her head. Maybe it's a part of her tradition? "With everything that happened, they're on edge-"

"Of course they are! Everyone is!" The boy began ranting. "How many died because of them?! How many were trapped in the mines when the rocks fell and they did nothing?! How many bodies are lost in those mines that they don't even bother to get back?!"

"Troy, _calm down_." Lily said sternly, grabbing him by his shoulders and making him face her. Looking at them both closely, he noticed, with slight surprise, one of the lumps on her head twitched briefly. Was he seeing things? "I get it, your angry at them for what they did, but acting wildly like this won't do anyone any favors. You know how they treat Faunus! And because of the White Fang it's only gotten worse!"

"I know that! I know, it's just…" The boy now known as Troy petered off, biting his lower lip as clenched hands shook. "I'm tired of us being treated like we're nothing more than animals and second class citizens, Lily. For Humans, if they make a mistake, it's usually a slap on the wrist or blaming the person who did it. But for us…" He went quiet again; only a small strangled growl working past his lips. "…If any of _us_ make a mistake, then its Humans saying 'That's a Faunus for you!' and blaming all of us! And before you say it, I get it; not all Humans are like that, but it doesn't make it any easier of a pill to swallow."

The man's brows furrowed in concern as he saw frustrated tears run down his cheeks, before finishing in a wavering voice.

"Most could care less if we all died…"

They all stood there in silence; one quietly weeping, and the other two standing there with their mouth opened slightly. A set of hands swiftly wrapped him in a hug, cutting him off for a moment before he started to cry slightly louder.

"There _are_ good Humans out there who would miss you if you died; I mean, Just look at our village! I know, without a doubt, that Miss White, Brick, and Auburn would miss us!" She whispered in his ear. The only reason The Warrior heard it was due to how close in proximity he was to them. He felt guilty for overhearing a private moment, but he didn't have enough time to get away.

' _This is going to come back to haunt me, isn't it?'_ He thought blandly, as he noticed them break their hug.

"…I don't know if they count, Lily." Troy said with a small smirk, wiping the last of his tears with the back of his hand.

"They always count. Trust me, I know these things." She said smugly, pulling back her hood and revealing a shock of long, wavy blonde hair; though that wasn't what interested him now.

' _What are those luuuohmygodTHOSEAREDOGEARS!'_ He screamed in his head; his mind freezing, unable to compute what it was seeing for several seconds.

Small blonde ears lay flopped over on top of her head, running to just before her human set of ears. The color reminded him of a cocker spaniel he came across as a kid. A notification appeared moments after pulling her hood down.

 **[** **Lilith 'Lily' Sensor** **]**

 **(Faunus)**

 **Health:**

 **80/80**

"That right? What about Mister Hazel, then?"

"E-err… I'm sure he'd miss us too! Anyway, let's go home, okay?" She asked quickly to get off topic, sweating slightly. "If we talk to them about how the way they were treating us made us feel, they'll apologize to us. Don't you think so?"

"I _really_ don't know the chances behind that, honestly, but whatever you think works." The boy shrugged his shoulders, putting his hands in his pockets. They started to walk off in the direction they came. "It's odd, but your ideas seem to work most of the time. It's like your aura's already unlocked, and you ended up with good fortune as your semblance." She giggled at his sarcasm.

"That would really help our problems if I did." Lily replied, still laughing, if only a little bit. They jumped onto a random topic relating to a 'Scroll', until their voices were overpowered by the sound of the river, and he heard no more.

The man stood within the trees and brush, his mind still processing the revelation he had inadvertently come across.

' _Oh. Oh my god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.'_ The warrior thought excitedly. _'I just found animal people. Ho-lee Shit, dude, I'm freaking the fuck out!'_

He started giggling, a large smile decorated his face; his excitement radiating off him in a flurry of blue energy, before realizing how he was acting, and taking several deep breaths to calm himself. Though he still couldn't help but smile a little, the last thing he wanted to do was cloud his mind and accidently put himself and others in danger due to his stupidity, but even then that couldn't completely remove his excitement.

Piecing the bits over information he gathered, he came to the conclusion that Faunus was the term for their race; and if that was the case, then maybe Grimm was the name of the race of those Beowolves. The only thing he could guess was that they were a subspecies of Humans that somehow gained the traits of certain animals. How this came to be was anyone's guess however, as well as how strong the traits were. Was it possible for them to appear more animal than man?

 _Were_ they more animal than man in appearance, and what he was seeing was them transforming themselves into a more human shape? Honestly, it didn't seem like the case. Considering how young the two looked, chances were they couldn't shapeshift that well, so that idea was made moot; at least until he had evidence to the contrary.

"God, I hope they're friendly…" He mumbled, slowly leaning his head out too see if they were still around.

Confirming they were gone, he walked back out into the clearing, letting loose a deep sigh. He truly didn't mean to overhear their conversation, but they did help to explain a few things about them. He frowned, ashamed of what this area's humans were causing onto others that were different. True, they didn't do so as a whole, but by the sounds of it, it's been this way for quite some time. The warrior _really_ hoped they're friendly to outsiders, and a human no less. He shook his head, and slapped his hands on his cheeks.

"Well, in any case, I should probably get cleaned up. It'll make a better impression." The man said, giving himself a pep talk as he pulled off the remains of his upper armor.

His upper body laid bare revealed a great many scars and wounds, ranging from the beet red skin on his back, the various bruises and burn wounds he received from the beast he fought, gashes, bites and claw marks that came from both animals and undead. The regrown flesh looked white as snow; a stark contrast to the rest of his tanned, mutilated body. Pulling off his greaves and pants revealed similar, with the greatest of which appearing on his upper legs and hips. Pulling off his helm, he threw it over his shoulder and into the pile, leaving his underwear on as he cannonballed into the river.

"Oh, that's _cold_." He nearly screamed, his voice a few octaves higher. A shiver went up his spine as he got to work cleaning himself, materializing a sponge. A lot of grime had built up within the last few days to make him chafe and the blood wasn't exactly helping either. The small amount of green blood that had slipped into his armor was making the skin tingly, and that was worrying him _immensely_. Last thing he wanted was to turn into another Moon Lord.

…Or would it be Star Lord for him, considering what all those bosses called him before they kicked the bucket? Would he have pale blue skin with glowing white tentacles?

By the time the warrior got out of his head, most of the blood on his chest had been wiped away; the dried flakes drifting off in the current.

Finishing cleaning his body, he put away the sponge before dunking his head under the water; his hand scraping away at anything that might have gotten to his hair. He pulled his head out after half a minute, taking a deep breath of air into his lungs.

"Hoo-boy, mighta held off there a little too long." He said, panting slightly as he swam his way out of the river. When he returned to the ledge, he shivered slightly at a cool wind that passed over his body. Motioning with his hands, a blue corona flickered over his body briefly, before steam started to billow from him. Using his magic, he had dried off his body by heating himself up for a brief moment; avoiding accidentally roasting his body after many cases of trial and error. He even managed to dry off his underwear! Touching his hair, he laughed as he found it puffed outwards like an afro, and stroked his hands through his hair to flatten it.

Looking over to his armor, he grabbed it and decided to pocket it for the time being and clean it later. The moment he dematerialized it, his Guardian also vanished into starlight. A small frown appeared on his face for a moment, before looking back at himself and deciding to get dressed.

Suddenly, his body was surrounded by light for an instant before fading; revealing midnight blue pants with gold outlines on his legs. Several dark gray plates layered upon each other on his outer thighs, with modified dark brown leather boots that went up to just under his knees; and were layered with dark gray plates with gold embroider that covered the foot and shin, leaving a small opening on the top of the ankle. Dark gray Poleyns covered his knees, trailing down past the lip of his boots.

 **[** **Silk Leggings** **]**

 **{Attachments: Light Hallow Plating, Gold Embroider}**

 **{Dyed: Midnight Blue}**

 **Durability: 400/400**

 **3 Defense**

 **+2% Increased damage**

 **[** **Dark Leather Boots]**

 **{Attachments: Hallow Plating}**

 **Durability: 2000/2000**

 **5 Defense**

 **+4% Increased movement speed**

On his upper body he wore a thin long sleeve black woolen shirt, with thin leather pads placed on his shoulders and outer forearms.

 **[** **Wool shirt** **]**

 **{Dyed: Black}**

 **{Attachments: Leather padding}**

 **1 Defense**

 **Durability: 20/20**

It was one of a few neat little tricks that he discovered when he was younger; he honestly didn't even realize it at the time. When he was about fifteen or so he trained himself in leatherworking, and on random chance he decided to sew some padding into one of his shirts. When he finished and checked its stats, he found them labeled as an attachment, much to his surprise and later delight. There was a limit to it however, so he couldn't just keep adding on to it.

This did prove to him however, that you didn't necessarily need the interface in order to make an item.

Rotating his shoulders, he found it rather comfortable as he materialized a set of scale mail in his hands. The chest and shoulders were made of two layers moderately thick dark brown leather, with the chest-piece guarding his pectorals, abs, upper back and spine, connecting together from his waist. The plates were small, and covered over the sides of his stomach to allow more flexibility, and fell halfway down his shin. It was cut open from the front, allowing his legs the freedom to run unimpeded. The plates connected to the leather through small openings between the two layers of the latter, allowing for seamless protection. The arms allowed freedom of movement with the shoulders being made of leather, as the scales simply dropped down to the middle of his forearms, and were made slightly larger than his limbs to aid in their movement.

 **[** **Modified Hallowed Scale Mail** **]**

 **Durability: 6000/6000**

 **8 Defense**

 **3% Increased critical strike chance**

Although it may not look like it, this was a neat little loophole that he could use.

Using the interface, as long as he had the materials he could automatically have a set of armor made within a few seconds. And that's all well and good, not to mention it makes armor that protects most of his body; but the armor within itself is large and heavy. Despite the bonuses the armor gave him, it wasn't all that effective when he was already slowed down by its weight.

So he dug around in a few dungeons, got some help from his merchant friend Gilbert, and found some books on blacksmithing to start making armor and weapons with his own hands. It took a great deal of trial and error along with a great many wounds, and he wasted a great deal of copper and iron armor, but he eventually nailed it down after about five years.

He carefully slid it over his shirt, tugging it to stop it from catching on his leather padding. This was another thing he found in recent years; equipping without the interface. It was incredibly simple thinking back on it, but it was understandable that it was never considered. After all, what young kid wouldn't consider this a game world that lets him use an inventory and game-like systems?

Rolling his shoulders again he was happy to find it felt rather snug, but that was to be expected considering the care he put into making it; last thing he wanted was to waste such rare materials. Once he made sure it covered his body properly, he pulled out a midnight blue overcoat and placed it over the armor. Its large coattails covered the armor; hanging just above his ankles, with the only piece visible being the leather gorget covering his neck. Like the Scale mail, they were cut open from the front, leaving his legs free to move. Layered metal plates similar to his legs covered the outside of his upper arms. The coat also had gold embroider that was meticulously stylish, with an inscription in his language written along a gold line in the middle of his coattails. Caramel colored fur lined his neck and waist wildly, with three decently sized yellow buttons traveled along the chest and stomach.

 **[** **Silk Overcoat** **]**

 **{Attachments: Light Hallow Plating, Gold Embroider, Inscription (English), Wolf Fur}**

 **{Dyed: Midnight Blue}**

 **Durability: 400/400**

 **2 Defense**

Making small adjustments, he attempted to get the last of the wrinkles out of his jacket. True, he was probably overthinking this, but he really did want to make a good first impression. Didn't mean he wouldn't go in without protection though; that would be foolish.

The last thing he donned was thick, dark brown leather gloves that went to just before his elbows, with the charm placed over it; fitting rather snugly.

 **[** **Dark Leather Gloves** **]**

 **2 Defense**

Walking over to the river he found himself looking at, what he thought to be a nicely dressed individual. The armor made his chest and shoulders stick out, subtly emphasizing the build of his body while – Hopefully – accentuating his style of clothing. With any luck, they wouldn't look at his clothing and think he's some sort of rich human prick trying to ruin their lives.

Satisfied with what he saw, he turned from the river's edge; finding a flat area of land and reaching a hand out palm first. A small gathering of light appeared in the middle of his hand, before launching toward its target. The light hit the ground without a sound before it began to grow and take on a shape, the glow eventually fading out and revealing a six foot tall, five-legged stand.

Two large prongs stuck out from the back, with the ends holding onto a large sphere just below chest level. Smaller beads were placed in the prongs, and petals on the underside of the sphere, all of which were shifting colors in sync; from purple to sky blue, spring green, and orange.

 **[** **Ancient Manipulator** **]**

" _ **Used to craft items from Lunar Fragments and Luminite."**_

He never really got a chance to look at it before considering the last time he used it he was in a pretty big rush, but getting a moment to look at it now, the color-shifting was actually rather…calming…

…

…What was he doing again?

…

Oh! Right!

Shaking himself away of the edge of his personal oblivion, he placed his hands upon the sphere, getting a white glow in response. Focusing his mind, his rifle appeared after a couple of seconds hovering over the top of the sphere, the manipulator glowing green in response. Three small swirling lights materialized around it; the weapon giving off a pulsating glow from their proximity.

 **[** **Vortex Fragment** **] x3**

" _ **Swirling energies emanate from this fragment"**_

The warrior motioned with his hands, the lights moving closer to the weapon in response, and causing the pulsating to increase in frequency. When they came into contact with it, it lit up a solid white and green, and the fragments seemed to have been absorbed by it. Placing his hands closer to the weapon, he poured some of his mana from the palm of one of his hands, and continuing to make motions with the other. Ever so slowly the rifle started to return to normal from its partially melted state. It took several minutes, but when the light faded, the weapon looked to be back in its original shape.

 **[** **Vortex Beater** **]**

 **Durability: 7000/7000**

" _ **The catastrophic mixture of pew pew and boom boom."**_

 **50 Ranged damage**

 **4% Critical strike chance**

 **Very weak knockback**

 **Very fast firing speed**

 **+66% Chance to not consume ammo**

 **+Explosives are guided**

A small grin worked its way on his face as he looked it over, finding it to be in its original state. All he really needed to do now was test it out to be completely sure. The interface may say that it's in primo condition, but he's well aware that it doesn't exactly display the faults in a weapon unless it's been made unusable. On more than one occasion he's had a weapon _explode_ in his hands, leaving him to regenerate his limbs in dangerous territory or face a great deal of scolding from the locals who took care of him. Sadly, it was wholly necessary to learn how to make proper weapons; _incredibly_ uncomfortable without a doubt, but needed for his survival. He was a bit embarrassed when Darryl came along though. Guy picked on him for _weeks_.

Unfortunately, he couldn't repair his other set of armor for the time being until he finds or makes a forge to turn them into ingots. Grabbing hold of the sphere, he went to return it to his inventory when he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him. He spun on instinct; his weapon pointed toward where he believed the sound originated from.

"Show yourself!" He barked, charging up his rifle with a _*VREE~*_ , pocketing his Manipulator with one of his hands. Overgrowth rustled, making him place his finger on the trigger. The rustling continued to get louder, as he saw the underbrush slowly shake toward his directi-

 _*Snort Snort*_

...

' _Say what now?'_

He froze for a moment, his mind going blank as he heard the sound of what sounded like a pig or wild boar wandering in his direction, more than likely from the sounds of the river. Seconds passed as he stood there; still as a statue until his mind finally caught up with him. The man sighed, lowering his weapon as he scratched the back of his head.

"Getting frightened by a god damn _pig_ now!" He mumbled, a light blush on his face from his overreaction. Though this could work to his favor. If it was a farm animal from a nearby village that escaped from their pen, he could bring it back in for them and show he was friendly. If it was a boar, at least he could use its fur, tusks, and meat for materials and ingredients. Silently stood there listening as the sound grew louder, keeping his weapon on him on the off chance it wasn't a farm critter.

When they finally broke from the tree line, he noted with slightly wide eyes that the little beastie was _the furthest thing_ from a pig; not to say it didn't have some similar features to one. He'd seen Melanistic animals before, so it wouldn't have been all that strange to find a black pig.

What set this little abomination apart from them were the _four glowing red eyes and the mouth full of canines_ they had _._

Like the wolf he had woken up to, this little beastie had a skull mask on his head and snout, along of a set of fangs that looked as if they belonged to a snake. They seemed to have two sets of tusks; the smaller set growing from the bone on top of his snout, whereas the other set reminded him more of an elephant with their shape and size. Bone plates grew along the sides of their back and sides, leaving enough room for fur to grow out wildly along its spine. Red lines ran across its face and tusks, with a marking in the shape of an eye between its own.

 **[** **Boarbatusk** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **500/500**

"Another animal with 'Grimm' in their name…" He muttered, raising his weapon towards them. "So it's not the name of a Beowolves race then. But what does it represent then? Its faction?"

His chain of thought was cut off when the beast squealed at him furiously. Maybe it was territorial and he intruded on their land? He pointed a finger at the creature, catching its attention and getting another squeal in response.

"Don't suppose you can talk?" The man asked with a bland tone. The beast snarled in reply, making him sigh as they charged toward him with the intent of goring him through his chest. "Yeah, I thought as much."

In a practiced motion he pulled the trigger, letting loose a single bullet and plasma explosive. The bullet hit its target first; landing in the center of its forehead, puncturing the eye tattoo before the explosive round caught up.

 _ ***BOOM!***_

A loud explosion tore its way through the air, throwing up dust and smoke. It made him wince despite how often he heard the sound. Hopefully that wouldn't frighten the locals too much. A minute passed before the smoke finally cleared, and The Warrior whistled when he saw the Boarbatusk laying on its side, dead. The upper half of its head had turned into a bloody crater; parts of its brain, teeth, and tongue still remaining, although horribly burnt.

' _Not bad at all…'_ He thought looking at his weapon. It was the first time he used it on an enemy other than those of the Lunar Invasion, so it was quite surprising to see it in action. The sounds of fast-approaching footsteps made him focus as more beasts broke through the tree line; all of which were following the black and white color scheme he'd been encountering for most of the day.

A pack of five Beowolves broke into the clearing first, all of them looking the same as their departed brother; with the exception of one. It stood a foot taller than its brethren, and had bone plates covering the sides of its lower jaw and what looked to be its ribs sticking out of its body. Jagged spikes had grown on its shoulders, with small plates covering its knuckles, outer biceps, and thighs. Its upper jaw looked properly fused with the bone now; looking more like a mutation than a mask. Eyes that once glowed red now were a bright orange.

 **[** **Beowolf Alpha** **]**

 **Health:**

 **700/700**

The group growled at him, though if it was because his Guardian murdered god knows how many of their pack or because they just found themselves a new chew toy he'd never know. The man let out an impish grin from the thought that was floating through his head

"Quick question to you lot then." He started. "I don't suppose you're willing to just walk away?"

The group howled suddenly before rushing him, claws played out in what looked to be an attempt to rend him to ribbons.

"Thought at much…well then…"

He raised his left hand, materializing a massive sheathed dark gray sword, with a large ruby placed in the center of the guard. In a blurred motion he raised it over his head, his grin turning into a feral smile.

"Let's play fetch, doggies!" The warrior shouted, his arm swinging at an incredible speed. The sheath of the blade went flying off in the wolves' direction and tore through the chest of one of the lesser wolves and impaling itself halfway into the dirt, leaving a gaping hole in the animal. The beast fell over, either dead or dying. The wolf following to the left of its victim froze in place, staring in what the man thought was shock of how easily one of their own was murdered.

The blade was unique in the face that the blade was hexagon shaped; three of which were lined up, and appeared to have a few layers. The outermost looked akin to an opaque dark gray crystal, but changed between blue and magenta under the dawn's sunlight, with the other two layers looking gold and silver respectively.

 **[** **Dangerous True Excalibur** **]**

 **Durability: 8742/9500**

 **67 Damage**

 **6% Critical strike chance**

 **Average knockback**

 **Very fast swing speed**

 **+5% Damage**

 **+5% size**

The alpha trailed behind their compatriots, possibly sensing the danger he posed from killing his minion with a sheath at high speed. This rang warning bells that some of these creatures were more intelligent than others; to what degree he didn't know, but it was safer to assume they were about as smart as him.

Two of the wolves jumped him at once from right in front. Unfortunately for them, the speed of his swing could more than compensate for how close they were. He crouched, swinging his blade upward. Two heads cleanly departed from their bodies less than a second later, their bodies flying over him and landing in the edge of the river.

The two remaining targets blinked, horrified and dumbfounded as the human rested his sword on his shoulder. The only thing they saw was their heads suddenly parting from their torsos. The man took a step forward and, to his satisfaction, the two backpedaled.

"Now now, no need to be so scared guys!" He said in a jovial tone, giving a large toothy smile. "I'll be quick, I promise! You won't feel athing."

Shivers ran up the wolves' spines; their instincts all but screaming at them to get as far from him as possible as quickly as possible. The lesser turned and made a beeline for the forest, only for a blur to become visible for a moment before everything faded to black.

The blade of his weapon had been firmly embedded in their skull, cutting the brain in half and killing them instantly. He placed a foot on its shoulder, yanking the sword out from its body; black blood and brain matter pouring out from the corpse, and his blade. The remaining wolf stared slack jawed, unable to properly respond with its mind or body.

" _No running_." He said, his voice sharp as steel, and just as cold. The man's eyes turned to the leader, flashing a dangerous blue. " _You lost that chance the moment you picked a fight with me_."

The last thing the alpha saw was a blur before they dropped to the ground, staring at their now headless body, before knowing no more.

The man stood there silently, a frown on his face as he watched the bodies of his enemies dissolve. He sighed, swinging his blade to remove any ichor or the like that had stuck on it before walking to his rooted sheath. His gun faded from his hand as he ruminated on recent events.

It was strange, but if there were multiple types of creatures roaming about, and they were all considered to be 'Grimm', then there seemed to be more going on here that he didn't understand. It was entirely possible that this was another event in progress, a 'Grimm Invasion'. However, he couldn't be too sure on that, since it was just as likely that they lived in this biome.

"Hmm. Maybe the village those kids came from can tell me?" He mumbled to himself, wrenching his sheath from the ground; shaking any loose dirt and organs before sheathing his blade. "Maybe they can give me a map of the general area too. That'd be a bonus…"

The sound of more rustling and the faintest flicker of red grabbed his attention, with him almost responding instantly by taking an Iaido style stance; waiting for his next opponent to show themselves. Moments turned into a minute and still nothing else rushing through the brush to attack him. The warrior raised an eyebrow in confusion when the red lights and sounds vanished, wondering why they weren't attacking him before realizing what direction they were running in. His eyes widened and face paled, as the man bolted in the same direction with the aid of his mana, a small crater being left from his starting point.

The village was about to be invaded.

Hopefully it was well defended; then these little bastards wouldn't be that much of a problem, but there was always that ' _What if…_ ' scenario playing out in his head. What if they didn't have any warriors? If they were mourning the loss of life from their village, would they pay attention as much when it came to guard duty? He grit his teeth, hoping to god he could get there before the village was razed to the ground.

' _Never again.'_

It wasn't a forest he was looking at any longer, but rather a ledge showing a hellish landscape, with a pool of lava beyond the edge; with a man in a gray hoodie smiling towards him as tears ran down his cheeks.

' _NEVER AGAIN.'_

The man sped up, leaving tiny craters wherever hit feet landed; the leaves blowing a split second after he passed them. His eyes changed; the sclera and pupil had turned blue, with his iris turning snow white. The trees became sparse, opening up to rolling yellow hills. He slowed to a stop, taking a look around him to see if he could spot the settlement. He stopped when he noticed a faint line of smoke rising off in the distance behind a large hill, making his blood run cold. White tendrils sprouted from his back as he launched himself into the air. A corona of blue surrounded him, making him look like a shooting star. The man mumbled to himself, his face the epitome of determination.

"Never again."

* * *

 **Well hot tamales, this one took a bit.**

 **Apologies for how late this was everyone, I've been a little busy these past few weeks, so I haven't had much time to focus on this story's production. It's been a mix of doctor's appointments and job interviews, so yeah.**

 **Anyways, as for this chapter:**

 **The interface/inventory/etc. is what I'm calling the system he's operating under. If you can think up any other names, give me a heads up.  
As for the loopholes I'm using, the inspiration that this came from was the show 'Log Horizon'. It's been a rather heavy inspiration for some of the things that'll be done here.**

 **Magic is going to get a little wild here, as it'll be kind of following the way the maidens use it. Of course, there's more to it than that, and it will be shown, just not for a while.**

 **Understand that the Terraria bosses WILL be making an appearance. It was never a question of** _ **if**_ **, only** _ **when**_ **.**

 **Give me a critique on things I could improve or change, and I'll do what I can!**

 **Stay Sober!**


	3. Shadow's Invasion

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Shadow's Invasion**

She didn't have enough time to register everything that happened. It all just spiralled out of control over the last week, and none of them had the time to cope.

Their village of North Waters was on the smaller side, with only two hundred or so people living close to what was considered the frontier of remnant. They were so far out; the signal from the CCT tower based in Vale was incredibly weak. They'd be lucky to be able to make a call even on the clearest of days, even to other villages close by. So that often left them to deal with mail-carriers to do the deed for them, and sad as it is, it's not always successful due to wandering Grimm.

They could always use one of the four huntsman stationed at their village to guard them while they deliver any letters or packages, but that would leave them vulnerable to bandits looking for anything they can exploit, or the Grimm.

Half the time, it's hard to tell which is worse for where they are in the world. Often, one followed a few days later with the other. Often this occurred when their protectors were off on a mission; something that was well out of their control due to how far were out, and how close they are to dealing with such problems. Those were the worst weeks.

So one can imagine how this week made them feel.

 _*_ _ **BANG!**_ _*_

The large door rattled again; splintered pieces of wood flying off from their last line of defense before another guttural roar accompanied it soon after. A few of the children whimpered behind her; clinging to parents or loved ones in a vain attempt to ignore the beasts that were just beyond the iron banded door.

"Where the hell are our huntsmen?" An old man hissed quietly, staring with brown eyes at the bent and split wood on the door and floors. Shaggy gray hair hung past his ovoid face and shoulders; working just past brown full-body suspender that started at the top of his back, covering a yellow long-sleeve dress shirt. The woman's gaze jumped to him for a moment, before returning to the door.

"They're probably dealing with the larger horde right now David. They should be ba-"

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

"-Okay, there we go." She finished off, hearing the dying wail of whatever was on the other side of the door. Said woman had long and slightly curly red hair that curled around her oblong head; and was wearing a burnt orange turtleneck due to the weather, with tight-fitting blue jeans and knee high brown boots.

A Faunus woman with straight black hair, emerald eyes, and a long monkey tail caught her attention; subtly twitching while wandering around the church with a worried face, looking for something that she couldn't find. She wore a loose violet blouse, jeans that were loose on the lower half of her legs, and simple black dress shoes. Quietly the woman walked up to her; waving her hand towards her to get her attention.

"Is everything okay, Iris?" She asked quietly. The woman in question flinched slightly, before relaxing as she finally noticed her.

"Oh! I-I'm so sorry Alani, I'm a little lost in thought." Iris said as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

"…Is it something to worry about?" She bluntly said. Iris stood there looking down at the ground; her hands fidgeting for several moments before letting out a small nod. What worried her most were the tears in her eyes. "What happened?"

"It's Troy… He said he was going for a walk with Lily after this morning's incident and they still haven't come back!"

"Oh god…"Alani paled, her head twisting toward the door. She didn't want to even think of it, but if there were this many Grimm around the town, then she didn't really know how much of a chance there was that they completely ignored the children. She'd go out there to get them herself but…

She was so lost in her head, she didn't realize how long she had stood there, or how she should probably start worrying about everyone here right now.

 _*_ _ **BANG!**_ _*_

Almost everyone collectively cried out in alarm when the top of the door exploded, leaving a decently sized hole that let their eyes gaze upon what looked to be the arm and hand of a primate. The limb pulled back through the hole, revealing a face similar to a gorilla, with a bone mask handing over two furiously glowing red eyes and a set of large, sharp fangs that framed its mouth.

" _Beringel…_ " The woman muttered, her voice wavering.

Both sides stared at each other for several moments; one frozen in fear, and the other staring at the feast in front of them. Drool started to run down its chin as it let out a loud guttural roar; its mouth glowing a deep crimson. Children screamed as their parents hugged them tight. David and the woman paled as the beast slammed into the door again; almost buckling under the strain…

 _*Shing!*_

…Before a massive blade pierced through the middle of the door, covered in its black blood.

The primate shrieked in pain and rage as it tried to remove itself from the door, only for the blade to abruptly pull away with a sickening _*Schlk!*_ , making the beast fall away from the sudden removal of its restraint; sounding as if it had fallen to the ground if the _*BANG!*_ they heard was any indication. They all sat in silence, simply listening to the ongoing conflict as the beast roared in anger at its attacker.

"I don't suppose that was one of our huntsmen, was it?" David quietly whispered to the woman, startling her. She didn't even hear his footsteps! Minutely, she shook her head.

"I didn't recognize the weapon." She shook her head. "Of the bladed weapons out hunters use, I didn't recognize the shape. This one was more hexagonal."

The old man nodded as he stared where the creature was moments ago, sweat dripping from his brow from how much of a thorough explanation she gave on seeing a weapon for a few seconds. "You don't think its bandits, do you?"

"In the middle of all of this?" She scoffed. "Not likely. They would have stayed on the sidelines until we were dead and the Grimm left before looting the place."

"I suppose so…"

A deep thumping shook the ground as whoever was attacking the Beringel fought; the beast letting out intimidating shouts from what she could guess. Whoever was fighting them, they were strong enough to pierce a blade through them, and knock them off kilter. After a few moments of hesitation from the explosions she was hearing, her eyes hardened with determination.

"…I'm going to check it out." She stated.

"What? Wait Alani, stop!" David quietly shouted.

Slowly, Alani quietly walked to where the blade broke through the door. It was wide enough that she could see through, if the light coming from the hole was any indication. Quiet gasps and quick, harsh whispers telling her to come back echoed from behind her as she leaned forward to peer through her new peephole.

And she could barely comprehend what she was seeing.

* * *

 _ **Several Minutes Earlier…**_

* * *

So, to offer a bit of a breakdown…

He had systematically took on – and won against – a mad god and an army from four worlds before waking up god knows where, found two animal children who's race go by the name of 'Faunus', fought against new enemies that collectively fall under the name of 'Grimm', and is currently rushing over to a town to protect it from what looks to be an oncoming horde of them; all while having only slept for about two hours over four or five days.

It was the first time having something of this magnitude happen, sure, but the early wake-up was something he was wearily used to.

The first 'Boss' class monster he ever fought against put him through the ringer; though, to be fair, he was rather young when he did. At that age, he made a great deal of mistakes; and ended up looking like a mess for it afterwards. And that _was just the first_!

Anyway, he's getting a tad off track.

Flying towards the town took several minutes to make. By the time he'd finally managed to get there, he had flown high enough to offer him a full view of the entirety of the town, as well as how damaged it was. The settlement consisted of about seventy different buildings or more, with a large church within the center; though he couldn't see the symbol of their faith very well from this altitude. Luckily for him it seemed like the invasion of the town had only begun, as only the upper northern part of the city was currently in flames. Water magic would easily deal with that; though he might want to get a little closer while he's firefighting so he doesn't inadvertently steal valuables by them getting stuck in the water.

He _really_ needed to up his elemental magic training. I mean, sure, he's been training to use elemental magic for a little over half a year, but he still needed the practice. Hopefully, when he gets back home, Greum can give him a hand with that; though he'll probably boast to high heaven about his magic _again_.

' _Seriously, it's funny the first time you hear it, but when he does so for close to five years, it makes you want to pull your hair out.'_ He thought in the back of his mind until the sounds of gunshots and explosions reached his ears.

Looking slightly northwest, he found himself staring at small little flickers of light, with the sounds of a small explosion following soon after. He slowed himself down; removing the blue emanation that surrounded him to avoid catching the eyes of either the Grimm, or whoever was fighting them as he gently let himself fall to earth. A minute passed before he finally came close enough to see two individuals – Probably a group meant to defend the village – exterminating the creatures around them with a surprising amount of grace. Carefully he landed on one of the roofs not too far away from where the battle was, just in case he needed to get over there and lend a hand, and simply watched the two fighting. No use revealing yourself unnecessarily when you're a stranger in their town during an attack after all.

A large man with a shock of blonde hair was wearing Norse armor, with a Gjermundbu helm that had long curved horns, as well as iron shoulders and leggings; both of which had what looked to be either intricate brass or gold filigree covering the eyeholes of the helm, as well as the shoulders. A studded leather hauberk and boots were fitted around his torso and feet, remaining loose enough to move but offering the best possible protection; a combination that wasn't easy to achieve in leatherworking.

They wielded a large metal Warhammer, with a decently sized hole in the center of its face; much to his confusion. Despite handling a weapon as large as him, and probably just as heavy, they still moved incredibly well; jumping over a Beowolf that was a foot taller than the one he encountered by the river. A thin aquamarine corona surrounded their body when they landed. It reminded him of magic, but it felt… different somehow. As if something was missing.

With a roar, they spun at a rate faster than someone of his bulk and equipment should have accomplished; slamming his weapon into the side of the wolf's stomach, shattering the rib-like plates around their stomach, and turning their insides to mulch as their chest was almost flattened into a pancake. The beast buckled; falling to the ground as a man wielding dual Kataras with a moderate sized magazine placed just below the hilt jumped over the fallen creature, and next to his teammate. Both placed their backs to each other, letting loose a wry grin. The magazines of his weapons had a metal blade placed in front and covering its bottom; acting as a guard for the clips to make sure they didn't get knocked out by a Grimm, and to maximize the damage done to the beast.

' _Holy crap, you mixed the two weapons together?!'_ He thought; stars in his eyes as he went into weapons nut mode. The fellow had short red hair with a small white bandana wrapped around his forehead, and dressed in a mantis-green sleeveless Japanese Yukata; with the left and right Maemigoro removed, leaving the Ushiromigoro hanging off the back of his legs. They wore brown pants made of what looked to be cloth, and leather shoes.

He focused his eyes on the two, getting two sets of text popping up.

{Huntsman}

 **[** **Midori Fujita** **]**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **! &*/!(%**

{Huntsman}

 **[** **Magnus** **Ström** **]**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **$/ %)**

"What the heck?" he mumbled, eyes narrowed at the jumbled text. "That's never happened before…"

So, from what he's seen since the Moon Lord's defeat, something like this wasn't all that shocking, though it did leave him with a great deal of questions.

' _ **Hmm… Is it possible that this is due to the change we caused?**_ _'_ A light, feminine voice asked from his head.

"Probably; but if that's the case then how do we figure out what it is?" He replied. "And was it fighting in the lunar invasion that caused this, or was it simply their appearance?"

' _ **Nothing but mysteries for us like always.**_ _'_

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

His head flashed up quick enough to see one of the Boarbatusk's that had charged the blonde had exploded suddenly from his hammer, which seemed to have changed its shape into what appeared to be a rocket launcher. The long handle had expanded in size, the plates shifting into a tube; opening a large hole that travelled to the hole in the hammer face.

"…That. Is. _Awesome_!" The warrior nearly shouted; his blue corona surrounding his body again. "I wonder if he's willing to show me how he made it."

' _ **Oh gee, I'm sorry I can't transform like the iron R.P.G. he has.**_ _'_ The voice mumbled bitterly, making the man flinch. _'_ _ **Maybe you should ask if they're willing to trade.**_ _'_

"U-um… You know I didn't mean it like that, right Callie?" He smiled sheepishly. The voice sighed resignedly, and he couldn't help but slump. Sadly, she did that quite often.

' _ **Just focus on what's in front of you.**_ _'_

He nodded minutely, looking up again to find Midori placing one of his Katar's firmly into the throat of another Beowolf, and unloading three rounds into them at point blank. He chucked the dissolving body into a Boarbatusk that was charging directly behind them, making it fall onto its side long enough for the creature to let loose a dying squeal; having a Katar thrown into its stomach. Both men ran to the corpse; Magnus covering his comrade now that he was down a weapon by focusing on the half dozen Grimm that were charging them, while Midori took aim to anything that stood in between him and his weapon.

A few large, bear-like Grimm came tearing around a corner – Whether or not they could sense they're comrades, he didn't know – and ran full speed at the duo. White spikes ran halfway down their spine, with two large spikes protruding from the front shoulders, and two smaller ones from the knees of its hind legs. Like all the other Grimm he encountered, they had a bone mask that covered its upper face, with similar red markings adorning it.

 **[** **Ursa Minor** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **2000/2000**

The warrior whistled, staring at the new enemies and their health. So far, they were the strongest type he'd seen since coming to; even more so than the beings from the Lunar Invasion, shockingly. He doubted that was all of them though. No, more than likely there were aerial and aquatic types of Grimm he hadn't encountered yet. True, he might be overthinking it in some areas, but it was better to assume the worst in this case than hope for the best.

One of the aptly named Ursa swung its claws at the Viking; cleaving the ground when he dodged out of the way before switching his weapon back into his hammer form, and giving a hard swing into their lower jaw. Meanwhile, Midori jumped over one of the beasts; shooting for their eyes, and even managing to succeed a few times much to the creatures misfortune, before his weapon made the harrowing _*Click!*_ , signaling an empty magazine. He landed, and deftly, he switch out his cartridges from muscle memory, all while dodging multiple attacks coming from the Ursa and Beowolves.

The man couldn't help but nod at how efficient he was. He knew how hard it was to multitask between dodging an enemy attack, and switching weapons several years back, though since he didn't really need an ammo magazine the closest parallel he could draw was switching weapons to their magazine swap or the Vikings weapon shifting.

Midori pulled his weapon out from the half-dissolved Grimm and turned sharply, bending his body backwards to avoid the claws that swiped at him before righting himself and immediately unloading more rounds into their eyes. The Ursa roared, their head turning skyward in an attempt to avoid more projectiles impacting their sight, and giving the man enough of an opening to lunge at them; piercing their throat with his blade all the way down to the guard. He let out one final roar, pushing his blade until it flow out from the side of the beast's now half-exposed throat. The abomination fell over dead, the lights going out from their eyes as the man ran while shooting, attempting to disturb the Beowolves that were close to overrunning his teammate.

"Not bad." The man mumbled, watching their fight. "They've clearly been fighting these creatures for a while then if they can handle them so easily."

' _ **Err… if that's the case, then how long have we been asleep?**_ _'_ Callie replied with concern. The man froze for a moment before his brows furrowed in worry. He never even considered the possibility. Was this town and biome in an area he once knew of? And if so, how old was the town?

"…Hopefully not too long." He replied quietly.

In any case, it was rather neat to see two fellows fighting so well together. He didn't have that luxury himself, so it was always interesting to see how people who weren't as physically and magically fit as he was fought an enemy; whether or not it was separately or together.

The two fought almost seamlessly between each other; Magnus laying out the heavier hits with his Warhammer on the large enemies to disorient them long enough for Midori to lay out some lethal strikes. The smaller enemies they dealt with individually, easily slaughtering them; keeping themselves back to back to avoid any surprise attacks that they might attempt to pull on them. The man smiled, admiring the level of teamwork they possessed.

"Hopefully I won't end up on the receiving end." He said jovially.

' _ **You probably just jinxed it you know.**_ _'_

"Oh hush you."

A small sound could barely be heard over the din of battle cries and explosions. He looked around in an attempt to see if the voice was located somewhere around the area, but was unable to find anything that hinted towards it. The warrior looked back at the two for several moments; gauging whether or not they would need him before nodding his head in satisfaction with what he saw, turning and jogging. The warrior jumped from roof to roof by pouring a little mana into his legs to make sure he crossed the gap. Sure, he could have flown, but he didn't really want to make himself anymore of a possible target than he already appeared to be; what with him being a complete stranger that was armed. Still unable to hear it after several moments, he decided to try another trick of his.

He sent a small amount of his mana to his ears, heightening the sounds coming from around to obscene levels. He winced slightly when the sounds of gunfire and explosions became more prominent, but he did need to see if there were more enemies coming towards them in case he needed to take care of them along the way. When he still couldn't make it out, the man slowly walked in the direction he heard the noise; jumping from house to house in hopes that if he got further from the fights occurring behind him, it might make it easier to find wherever this other noise was coming from.

"-un li-!"

A voice could be heard in the distance. The man jumped onto a building across the street and tried again.

"-amnit, I can't reac-!"

A woman could be heard more clearly, but he was still pretty far off from wherever they were. He closed his eyes and focused, trying to pinpoint where the voices were coming from.

"-run, get to them N-!"

"Found them." He said, opening his eyes and heading east. They ran fast; worried about the panicked undertones the woman he heard was speaking with. Hopefully, he could get there quick enough to lend a hand; hell, at this point he really wanted to simply fly there and save time.

Paranoia on the battlefield is an absolute _Bitch_ at times.

He sighed quietly, instead opting to land on the streets and pushing mana into his legs again, bolting at high speeds. He kept his eyes peeled while continuing to enhance his hearing; making sure he was running in the right direction.

"-get to them in time!" A deep, masculine voice said.

"Get out of here Lily!" A young voice said. The man's face paled. It couldn't be _them_ , could it?

"No! Troy!"

"I SAID GET OUT O- _Glck_!" The boy abruptly stopped as a _*CRACK!*_ came to his ears. Unknowingly, the man's eyes had shifted to blue as he turned a corner. He increased his speed as he unsheathed his blade.

"TROY!" Lily screamed.

"Damnit!" The female voice swore. "Arun, hurry up!"

"I'm trying Coral!" The now named Arun replied frantically. The man lessened the flow to his ears; their voices almost sounding as if he were next to them. His eyes jumped from street to street at every intersection he passed, yet still couldn't find where they were. Frustration took over his mind as he contemplated the risks of flying before a war-cry, followed by a loud explosion and a plume of smoke drew his attention, running as fast as his magic would allow while still keeping enough on standby for combat. He already wasted a half of it from both flying here and trying to find where they were, which was pretty good in his case, since he honestly thought that he'd waste a damn sight more of it in a fruitless search.

' _ **Small blessings, I guess…**_ _'_ Callie petered off. The warrior simply nodded; more worried about what implications lay behind that small explosion. No more words were said from either, but both had come to the same conclusion. Whatever was happening there was dire.

Half a minute passed before he could see the house that had lit on fire up close, but just before he turned the corner, he found himself staring at the body of a large, bald man in an alley that had blown through the hole in the wall. Sheathing his blade, he ran to them, and winced when he found half of the guys forearm was missing; cleanly cut off from an attack or what looked to be his flight through the building, if the large smoking hole the back of the house had was any indication. The wound was bleeding profusely; a large puddle of blood having formed despite only a couple of minutes having past.

{Huntsman}

 **[** **Arun Phan** **]**

 **Health:**

 **40/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **)/!(%**

 **Current Ailments:**

 **[Bleeding]: Cannot regenerate health!**

 **[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

The warrior's lips turned into a thin line as he reached out and shook the man in an attempt to see if his soul was still with them and got a small groan in response. The man let out a small sigh of relief. At least he was still able to respond slightly to outside stimuli, so that was a small bonus. He acted quickly; putting away his weapon and pulling out a gray cotton shirt he carried on him for a change of clothing, and tore the lower half into strips before tightly wrapping them around his stump. After pulling hard on the last strip to make sure it wouldn't budge he materialized a bottle of alcohol, ripped the cork off with his teeth, and poured it on the wraps. Arun hissed in response; his remaining hand clenching in pain, and getting a small nod of satisfaction from his response.

"Yeah, I know it sucks bud." He said solemnly. "Happened to me quite a few times too."

His own body had regeneration that solved the issue with lost limbs, but he didn't believe Arun had the same thing. Both he and the town would be seriously hampered if he remained like that; especially if invasions like this were the norm. He already had a plan in mind to deal with the issue, but he wanted him awake to lay out some terms. It's all well and good to help people, but he _really_ didn't want to make himself into a target in whatever country he might be in.

Gently, he place Arun's body over his shoulder, being careful to avoid jostling his wound too much. Once he had a good hold on his legs and back, he flew onto a roof that was a few houses over from the one that was currently wreathed in flames; slowing his descent with his wings. Once he landed, he slowly removed him from his shoulder, placing him on the ridge to make sure he wouldn't come sliding off at any point while he was away. Hopefully, the guy wouldn't get eaten by a wandering Grimm now that he was out of the way of battle; considering he hadn't come across any aerial Grimm yet.

Only when he was done did he finally come out of his tunnel vision, hearing the sounds of metal being slammed against, and the voice of the woman roaring against her attacker; more than likely thrown into a berserk state after what happened to her ally slash friend. Slowly he walked over to the edge of the roof, and nearly went bug-eyed at the sight.

The woman – Coral! Right, her name was Coral. – was currently managing to fend off several Grimm of different varieties that were attacking her at once with a spear, and what seemed to be small crystals on a spinner at the top of the shaft much to his confusion; all of them with different colors ranging from red, dark blue, yellow, and white. Several Beowolves and Ursa, and an even larger version of the bear were attacking her, though the big one was certainly a sight to look at. Unlike its weaker variant, this one was a great deal taller. Bone plates covered its hind legs and back, with numerous large spikes covering the entirety of its back; standing on their own around at about the height of an average human. Small spikes seemed to even be growing from its forepaws, leaving the warrior imagining a tank walking on four legs.

 **[** **Ursa Major** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **2562/3000**

' _ **Huh… A lot more powerful than the Lunar Invasion, aren't they?**_ _'_

"Yup. That's quite the jump in health. I can only imagine how strong some of them are if these are the footsoldiers."

A scream diverted his attention. Turning his head, the warrior's breath hitched in his throat and his pupils turned to pinpricks.

The two kids he saw in the forest were cornered; boxed in at the door to an indented building. Lily was desperately tugging on the door to get away from the five Beowolves and Ursa Minor that surrounded them. Unfortunately the door made thick to protect property from would-be thieves, wouldn't budge to an eleven-year-old-or-so girl. As for whatever the other two, and probably the two he'd just come across as well with they're strange powers they wielded, he wasn't sure; but he knew for certain that these kids had nothing of the sort if his stat check was any indication. Beowolves surrounded them; snarling at the girl who covered her unconscious friend in a vain attempt to protect him from harm.

He didn't have much time to act. All battle plans he could think of, even maxing out his speed to jump to the children's aid might result in them being attacked the moment the wolves heard him coming. They may be a little stupid, but they are animals, and chances were they had a good sense of hearing. The moment they heard him coming, then all bets were off. The only possibility he could think of that might work would be something he never fully tested. The only thing that closely resembled it in how it worked was a wormhole potion; it was what he based his idea off of. But if he screwed up, there was all manner of things that could occur, with a massive explosion that takes out a portion of the town being the worst of them.

There wasn't much choice though, they'd die otherwise.

' _Elemental training, don't fail me now…_ ' The man thought, sweating as he closed his eyes and placed the tips of his fingers together; forming a circle between his thumb and index finger. He took a deep breath as mana started to flow from the center of his being, and out towards his arms; turning from blue to purple the further out it went. The outline of an eight-point star slowly formed between his fingers; with the diagonal points being slightly shorter than their counterparts. Slowly, the man separated his fingers, leaving behind a small magenta circle, followed by a ring of runes and another circle; all of which were hollow. Eight small points decorated the outer ring, referencing the inner star.

' _BringmethereBringmethereBringmethere-'_ He chanted in his head, placing the center of the star solely on the empty area in front of the children and Beowolves. Mana came out of him and into the circle in droves; the floating markings slowly filling in. It took over half of his remaining mana over the period of five seconds; though it felt like an agonizingly long time with lives on the line.

The world suddenly shifted as he moved from one place to another, ending up from on top of the roof to just a little ways off, right next to the Beowolves.

Everyone there froze for a moment. The girl looked at him wide-eyed; tears running down her cheeks. Coral stared at him incredulously, probably wondering where the hell he came from. Even the Beowolves that now surrounded him stared slack-jawed.

The warrior opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he looked between the girl, the Grimm, and what he assumed to be another Huntsman- or Huntress in her case.

"…Huh." He uttered, pleasantly surprised it worked without any noticeable drawbacks this time considering he didn't use a chant. "Well then."

He shoved his hand out toward the Grimm, his mana turning green as another circle with the symbol of a gust of wind appeared from the palm of his hand. An explosive gale forced the Grimm back, giving him and the kids a large expanse to work with. Using that wind spell to that strength had with a quarter of his already limited mana, so he had to be careful of how he used it. He quickly looked back to the children behind him, and realized his eyes must have turned blue again when the girl gasped; hugging her friend closer to her. He gave her a kind smile, trying to placate her fears.

"Don't move, alright?" He said gently, getting a small look of surprise from her. "I'll make sure they won't hurt you two again."

Their growls brought his attention back to them. His brows furrowed as he scowled; materializing Excalibur again, and holding it in the same way that he did when he took out the group of Beowolves in the forest.

The Ursa charged at him, looking to be intent on tearing at him with his claws. They only got about halfway before it found a sheath burrowed through its head, and a quarter of the way through its body. A Beowolf jumped over the falling corpse with the intent of a surprise attack, only to be met with him effortlessly flying next to them; lopping off their head as he passed. He had fought at speed far beyond the movements of these Grimm. They honestly looked to be sluggish in comparison to fighting the lunar god. He landed on top of the decaying Ursa's corpse; a blue corona surrounding him as he gave the beasts a hard look.

" _ **Come.**_ " His voice echoed with power, his mana amplifying the sound of his voice to intimidate them.

The Grimm charged him at once. Even a few that had been attacking Coral turned their sights on the larger threat with the intention of ending him with sheer numbers.

Poor bastards didn't know who they were dealing with.

The warrior turned into a blur from where he was standing; a small hole ripping through the dead Ursa's corpse. The creatures skidded to a stop, trying to track where he was running. They didn't need to, since a moment later he came into focus again just off to the side of the far right Beowolf.

A kick sent them hurtling into another seconds later; both of them coming to a halt next to one of the other five Ursa's, and causing the others to look to their position, only to find him gone before another was abruptly sent flying. One of the Wolves snarled, swinging its hand to their left, only to have it grabbed by the man suddenly appearing. He sent them with a wallop towards the ever-growing group of Grimm, before pulling out his Beater rifle in his empty hand and pulling the trigger. Multiple volleys of standard and explosive rounds came one after another, covering the area in a thick smoke while the explosions rang in the threes ears; of which Lily covered hers from the cacophony.

The remaining Beowolf he failed to throw into the pile attempted to blindside him by biting into his arm, but unfortunately for them the armor underneath the long coat he wore neglected to bend to the beast's whims, and broke most of its teeth. The wolf howled in pain, a claw making its way to their mouth, only for part of their arm and head to be promptly separated from the rest of their body by the blade he still wielded in his right hand.

The Grimm surrounding Coral had stopped attacking her, watching the carnage a single man was causing with ease against several of their own all at once. The man took note when he saw a thin pink corona surround her, with some of it pouring into her weapon. One of the crystals on the shaft – the red one in particular – lit up in response, before coating the blade of the weapon in flames. His eyes widened by a fraction; letting go of the trigger, but still keeping the corner of his eye on the smoke just in case a few of them managed to somehow avoid the superheated plasma, and had a front row seat to the woman letting out a war cry of her own as the spear piercing through the Ursa Major's skull with relative ease. It must have been burning at a high enough degree that the part of the mask that was under direct contact with the blade had simply melted, thus allowing the spear to puncture into its brain. Though it did raise the question of how the blade could resist the heat of the flames without melting itself. Maybe it was enchanted with heat resistance?

The beast let out a small guttural groan before falling onto its side; the spikes on its back pinning two of the Beowolves that were unfortunate enough to be next to it. They struggled for a few moments until the flaming blade of the spear decapitated the two of them. The flames of the spear abruptly went out; the shining red crystal turning dull before breaking apart into dust. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and intrigue due to the flames suddenly stopping instead of petering out, and that the blade of the weapon wasn't glowing from being superheated.

 _'Fire magic maybe?'_ He speculated. Coral stared at him for a second until her eyes began to widen in surprise and what looked to be dread.

"Look out!" She shouted, pointing to the far left. His eyes widened slightly as he pivoted on his feet, finding himself staring down the oncoming maw of an Alpha Beowolf that had sneaked up on him. The warrior dropped his sword, shifting his body to the right to avoid the mouth. The beast turned when it landed, lunging at him again only to choke as they were gripped rightly around their throat. Its mouth hanged wide open, trying to take whatever breath it could while it swung their claws at him until a foot kicked them into the air, followed by a glowing green projectile.

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

The upper half of its body violently exploded; small giblets flying off in random directions. All that remained of them when they landed were the heavily burnt and slightly melted legs. He let out a small whistle at the damage. It did more harm than the Boarbatusk he met in the forest. Maybe it was because he aimed for the front of its head rather than the center of its body?

He looked around the area, looking for other targets that might've been creeping around corners or dark alleys. Finding none, he turned towards Coral, who had entered combat with the last two Ursa in the area; though not without keeping a wary eye on him.

It was understandable, really. Guy pops up out of nowhere and starts absolutely destroying Grimm left and right with nary a sweat; at least to her point of view at any rate. He'd have to do his best to show he meant no harm to any of them.

' _It would've helped if I pocketed my wings methinks.'_

' _ **Probably.**_ _'_

The gun vanished as he looked down to find the blade laying a foot in front of him. He slid his foot under the hilt of the weapon and kicked it up into his left hand; grabbing it by its middle due to its size. He would have levitated it into his hand, but he had the sneaking suspicion that he would need to save what mana he could.

Grabbing the hilt of the blade with his right hand, a pink aura started to manifest over the blade as it was pointed skyward. He nearly swung at one of the Ursa before noticing movement in the shadows behind Coral; and with what he could make out, it didn't look friendly. The man quickly swung his blade in the direction of the alley, and charged towards that direction in case the beam missed. True to his luck, the beast seemed to possess a level of intelligence that one wouldn't believe was under such an exterior and jumped out of the way, only to have a blade penetrate its skull seconds later.

He wondered how a creature could manage to balance itself on two legs with a body like that, and cringed when he heard a small _*Boom!*_ go off in the alley.

"Didn't really think that through…" He mumbled, turning around-

-and finding a spear pointed right at his throat.

"Who or _what_ in the hell areyou?" Coral demanded, her accented voice as sharp as the blade pointed at him. He slowly raised his hands in placation while his eyes wandered to the Ursa she was fighting moments earlier; finding one of them decapitated somehow, while the other seemed to have been sharply pierced through its skull despite her not having her fire gem.

"Easy there love!" He spoke calmly, his facial expression neutral for the most part, with the exception of a small smile. "I'm not here to hurt anyone! Rather I came here to help if you'll let me."

"Pardon me if I'm not too likely to believe you right off the bat." She snapped, pushing the tip of the spear onto his skin, and making his head lean back to avoid getting his head turned into a kebab. "I take it you're trying to make a quick buck in all of this chaos for you and your bandit buddies."

A look of utter confusion broke onto his face. Gently, he shook his head in the negative.

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about." He stated. The man pointed a finger in the direction where he came from. "I was walking through the forest when I saw a large horde of Grimm running through the trees. They even ignored me being there and kept running, so I figured they might've found a better target than myself and came running."

The huntress stared at him for several moments, likely gauging the validity of his story before gesturing to his wings.

"And those?" She asked. He chuckled, giving the tendrils a small flap before settling down.

"Wings. Hope you don't mind them."

"More concerned with the way they look, _friend_." Coral emphasized. "I doubt anyone on _Remnant_ has seen wings like that before."

She gave him a hard stare with her pink eyes; the spear starting to pierce through his skin.

"So I'll ask again. _Who or what the hell are you_?"

"An alien."

The sudden and surprising answer made her stumble for a moment, and she stared at him with an exasperated expression.

"I'm being serious!"

"So am I." He stated bluntly, grabbing the spear between two fingers of his left hand and moving it away from his throat. The woman struggled against his grip for a few moments, until it was abruptly yanked from her hands. He'll admit she certainly had a grip if he had to use magic to disarm her. The weapon was held aloft between his fingers until he gave it a gentle toss into the air, and grabbed hit from its shaft and thrust the butt of the weapon to the ground. "I know it's hard to believe, don't get me wrong, but I am telling the truth."

They both stood there in silence. Coral appeared to be trying to process the insanity of what he just admitted to with wide eyes and sweat dripping down her brow; periodically staring at him and the two weapons he was holding. Meanwhile he took the time to get a good look at her stats and armor.

Her armor reminded him of French 19th century armor used by the cavalry, complete with blue tunic with a magenta underside folded up from the front and back to avoid impeding the legs, and white breeches with black boots that ran up to just under her knees. Lace cords hung off of yellow, rope-like shoulder pads that ran under a full-body breastplate, with magenta fabric lined with gold seemed to be layered underneath the armor, poking out from the shoulders, neck, and waist. A stylized brass wolf insignia was etched into her left breast; possibly representing her family symbol or some belief of hers; with a white belt, and a sash wound under her left armpit and over her right shoulder, and a few moderately thick lace cords of different lengths that went from her left shoulder and onto the top of her breastplate. She wore a helm with a magenta plume that ran down to her shoulders; with a brass band that looped under her chin to keep secured. Locks of light blue hair poked out from the corner of the helm, framing her pink eyes and face rather nicely.

{Huntress}

 **[** **Coral Fortier** **]**

 **Health:**

 **85/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **! &(/ !)**

"Let's say for a moment that I believe this alien nonsense." She stated frankly, gaining his attention. "What are you here for?"

"Besides the obvious reason of not wanting orphans and widows to start popping up when I could have stopped it?" He replied curtly. "I'd rather not have any more guilt on my conscience, if you don't mind."

"What do yo-" She began until they heard the sounds of wood and stone breaking. They turned and stood back to back, looking for whatever might be coming to them; and by the sounds of the damage being done, it was either fast or big. Quite possibly both. The woman growled to herself. "Mind if we put this on hold for the moment?"

"Sure, no probl-"

Then they heard Lily scream

Both sets of eyes jumped over to the girl, who was dragging a half-conscious Troy from a large black and white armored scorpion that was charging towards them.

The beast had five sets of eyes and two large mandibles; both of which were encased in a thick-looking white exoskeleton that consisted of multiple bone plates and ran across its upper body, stopping just short of its glowing orange stinger. Eight then, yet surprisingly strong legs carried it along, which was surprising considering it had to lug around a body its size, along with the two massive pincers that were double the size of its head. More than enough to crush a child like a grape.

 **[** **Death Stalker** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **5000/5000**

"Lily!" Coral shouted, a moment away from charging towards them only for the spear being lightly thrown to her, making her utter a surprised yelp. She looked back at the man, seeing him place one foot behind the other, as if he were about to launch himself forward.

As it stood, she wouldn't be fast enough to reach them. For him though, he could probably boost himself to them easily enough, but it would sap him of the rest of his mana.

…

…Well, nothing new there.

His vision blurred as he launched himself forward, leaving behind a small crater with a loud _*Crack!*_ , further surprising the woman from both. He got between them just as its stinger made a beeline for them; the girl again sheltering her friend with her body despite Troy's quiet pleas to run. A _*Clang!*_ reverberated throughout the street as metal met bone; a small quake able to be felt by both of them. Its tail went flying back while the man skidded a few steps back himself, showing just how strong of an attack he defended against, much to his own surprise.

'Holyhell _, these blighters are powerful!'_

' _ **Focus, idiot!**_ _'_

He moved his sword barely in time to block its right pincer, noticing in the corner of his eye its left pincer pulling back. Taking that as its queue, he quickly brought around his sword to defend against it, only to narrowly move and deflect its stinger suddenly launching at him again. The warriors eyes widened in shock; registering a couple moments afterward, as well as sending its other pincer wide with another swing, that the beast pulled a feint on him.

It was intelligent.

His eyebrows furrowed. If this was the case, then it would be better to consider these Grimm equal in mind to a human being if he was intending on surviving this, and any other encounter. The beast surprised him with that attack, but it wouldn't do so again.

It started to pull back one of its pincers again, and he acted to place his sword to parry the attack, only for its stinger to again come flying at him. Unfortunately for the Stalker he wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice, and deftly jumped to the left. The stinger pierced through the cobblestone; half embedded into the earth. Its pincers attacked him with amazing speed considering its size, but he had a feeling it would scramble to attack him while attempting to pull its tail out, and easily avoided them. His weapon let off a glow again, only this time it stayed with the blade instead of being waved off. The warrior lunged towards the beast, eluding another attack from it before gripping the hilt tight as he thrust it towards its face. The blade penetrated its exoskeleton, part of the blade buried within its flesh.

The beast shrieked as it flung its claws wildly, forcing the man to move out of the way to avoid being hit while it was berserk; leaving the blade rooted in its body. The stinger tore through the ground; a large stone still attached to its tip for a few moments before it ripped a large hole through a house.

"Bugger has some strong armor there…" He muttered to himself, failing to find an opening with how the Grimm was flailing around and breaking apart houses like twigs. He already had a plan in mind if Excalibur couldn't get through its armor, but-

"Need a hand?" He jumped slightly, turning around to find that Coral had managed to sneak up on him, standing a little ways behind him to his right. What does it say about him that a man who regularly fights literal _monsters_ on a daily basis got snuck up on by another human being because he was lost in thought?

He's done that a little too much lately. Either that or he's still pretty damn tired to have missed that.

…Maybe both.

"Can you take care of its pincers for a few seconds? I need an opening." He asked, reaching his hands through the kaleidoscope. The woman's eyed widened a fraction at the sight. By the looks of her reaction, she had never seen anything like this before, not that he could blame her. He was the only one he knew of that had access to an inventory that could materialize and de-materialize items in any way he saw fit, making him into a walking arsenal, castle builder, and pack mule.

"…What the hell _are you_?" She questioned with awe in her tone. He let out a smirk and raised an eyebrow at her; finding her reaction priceless. It wasn't often that he was given the chance to say this.

"A Magician."

His hands felt the shaft of the weapon he was looking for, and he pulled at it dramatically, just for shits and giggles from the way she was acting.

A Large golden shaft with a white plate at the throat of the handle came out from the shifting lights, which expanded exponentially as the head of the weapon had finally come out after a couple seconds of pulling.

Her slack-jawed expression was _beautiful_. Now he knows what Greum feels like when he talks about magic the way he does.

The head of the weapon was a half n half of a hammer and axe, though he would consider it a Warhammer and Battle Axe due to its sheer size, not to mention that the entire weapon stood a head taller than he was. The bit of the axe was at least two and a half times the size of its golden cheek, and was sky blue, whereas its hammer counterpart was the inverse; being gold on the face and sky blue on its neck.

 **[** **Stardust Hamaxe** **]**

 **Durability: 14939/15000**

 **60 Damage**

 **Average Swing Speed**

 **+4 Range**

The warrior gave the weapon a quick twirl in his hands, making the hammer head face forward and leaned it on his shoulder.

"Can you guess what I'm intending on here?" He asked playfully, smile so wide it hurt. She stared at him for a few moments before the answer seemed to dawn on her as she let off a smirk of her own.

"Hammer meets nail?"

"Hammer meets nail."

"I really wish my weapon hadn't been destroyed earlier…" She sighed before letting off a small grin. "…But I suppose this will do the job just as well."

Carefully watching her step, she strolled down toward the rampaging beast; keeping an eye on its flailing limbs. A hand reached up to the crystals before spinning it; the dark blue crystal landing under what appeared to be an arrow located at the edge of the blade.

The beast finally took notice of her, and with speed he hadn't seen such a large creature manage they swung their claw, leaving a large gaping hole where she once stood. She encased herself and the weapon in her pink aura again; this time with the dark blue crystal lighting up in response as she swing the weapon onto the pincer. It didn't penetrate, much to the man's confusion for a moment, before his eyes bulged as a thick sheet of ice started to encase its limb. The beast took notice too late; shrieking as they tried to tear it from the ground to no avail. Its stinger came flying from out of nowhere, forcing Coral to jump out of the way, and slammed its free pincer in attempts to free itself from its binding.

Taking the chance when he swung his claw down on the ice again, she activated the dust crystal, and froze its remaining claw on top of the other. The Death Stalker screeched at her, Coral smirking all the while.

"All yours!" She shouted, noticing him jump forward already; flying over its restrained limbs while dodging its stinger. He spun his body as he began to fall to earth, sending its stinger flying when it jabbed at him again. With a grunt, he swung his hammer at the blade.

 _*BANG!*_

The Grimm's body convulsed for several moments as Excalibur has pierced its brain, buried three quarters of the way. Its legs gave out from under it, its body hitting the ground with a _*Bang!*_ that could be felt like a small tremor.

Meanwhile, the man was currently attempting to get to his feet again as his eyes spun, leaning on his weapon for support.

"Note to self: keep some mana on standby on the off-chance that I need to swing _really_ hard." He groaned as the world was spinning around him. "Oh wait, I already do that."

Giving his head a light shake, he pocketed his Hamaxe, reaching forward for his blade. The man gave it a pull but it didn't budge, so he placed his feet firmly on either side of its head, and pulled as hard as he could.

' _ **Pulling the sword from the stone, eh?**_ _'_ Callie said cheekily.

"…You were waiting to say that to me, weren't you?" He mumbled quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

'… _ **Maybe.**_ _'_

He chuckled lightly for a moment before trying to yank it the rest of the way out.

 _*Schlk!*_

The man yelped as he lost his support from the blade, and fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, followed by a small groan.

' _ **Oh quiet down you big baby, you've had worse.**_ _'_

"Ahh shove off." Slowly getting to his feet again, he gently took to the air to get over the fading body of the Grimm.

When he crested over the ice, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of Coral tightly hugging the kids. Landing next to them, the woman jumped slightly before rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand, and looked at him with a small smile.

"I suppose some thanks are in order." She said, bowing. "Had you not appeared when you did, then I fear these children would not have survived. You have my thanks; both as a huntress and a protector of this village."

"There's no need." He smiled sheepishly, waving it off. "Quite frankly, I'm just glad I could get here in time."

"U-um…" A quiet voice petered off. He turned to find Lily looking at the ground with a small blush. Her sweater was gone, instead showing a lilac shirt with the image robin birds flying around its front. Troy appeared to have his head cushioned with her sweater, acting as a pillow. "Thank you for saving us sir."

With her expression and face the way they were, he could've stared at her for eternity for how cute she looked and acted.

' _Hnnnnghh!'_

A small grin adorned his face as he reached out and tussled her hair. "Don't worry about it; I'm glad I could help."

He pulled back his hand, watching as she touched her hair with her hands slowly, as if in surprise. She looked down at the ground, making him wonder if he did something wrong only to find her eyes peeking at him through her bangs, a shy smile accompanying a flushed face.

"Umm… did I do something wrong?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion, tilting his head slightly.

"Not really." Coral said in a non-committal tone, though the evil smile she had on her face sent chills down his spine.

"Ooookay then…"

"To get back on topic though…" She started, her voice turning as serious as her expression. "How did you find us?"

"I followed the sound of the explosion you guys made, as well as the smoke from whatever fires burning from that house over there." He replied honestly, pointing at the house currently wreathed in flames. Whatever he said seemed to trigger a response with the way her face paled and pupils shrunk.

"Oh god… Arun!"

Oh right, he almost forgot about him with all the fighting…

Now he feels bad!

"Easy there." He said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's Fine… for the most part. I put him on top of one of the houses so he wouldn't get eaten while I wasn't looking."

She sighed, visibly sagging at confirmation of his survival, before she froze.

"…What does 'for the most part' mean?" She asked. The grin he had on his face vanished almost immediately.

"Its… better if I showed you."

With that he took to the air, searching for the building he deposited the man upon, and finding it moments later. He landed next to Arun, gently flipping him over and cradling the large man in his arms; taking care not to irritate his bandaged stump. Carefully, the warrior jumped from the roof, falling to the ground at a snail's pace; his wings fully extended to slow his descent. By the time he landed and placed his body on the ground, the two had caught up to him, and the reactions he got to the injury made him want to rewind time if he could.

Coral's body trembled in anguish and rage at the sight of her comrade. Her eyes shined in the light of dawn, showing him unshed tears. Lily sobbed next to her, tightly clutching at the fabric of her arm as tears ran down her face.

"It's all my fault…" Her voice trembled. "If we just stayed in town after our fight, none of this would have happened…"

"Don't go blaming yourself for what happened, little flower." Coral chided gently. "You couldn't have known this would happen. If anything, it's my fault for not thinking of this possibility. _I'm_ team leader…"

She petered off, turning and hugging the girl close, her head bowed in shame. Meanwhile, the man stood by awkwardly; his mouth a frown as he looked on, questioning whether or not to tell them about his charm. If he did he would only make himself stand out more than necessary, and considering the way she reacted when she saw his abilities, they might try to take his items by force. If he didn't then he'd have to deal with his head and heart berating him for doing nothing when he could have helped…

' _Ahh screw it.'_ He thought sharply. "Actually, ther-"

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

The ground trembled as a loud explosion ripped through the air.

* * *

 **Have I ever told you how much being late on my writing pisses me off?  
Cause it's a lot.  
Apologies on how long this took to make. It wasn't intended, but I kind of suffered from writers block, as well as having to deal with life outside of this. Words can't explain how bad I feel taking this long.  
Luckily I have an idea of what I'm doing for the next several chapters. Nothing set in stone yet, but enough to keep the chapters coming for a while.**

 **Anyway…**

 **I know I sound like an old record, but the magic you've seen here will** **be** **explained the further into the story you get.**

 **Yes, the sound effects are a bit egregious now that I look back on it, but I'm a sucker for Michael Bay movies I guess.**

 **Coral's armor was actually an inspiration take from the Cent-Gardes Squadron of the Second French Empire. Interesting stuff, history.**

 **Feel free to critique the story or give me corrections if I missed anything. And by all means, ask me questions if you feel the need to, I got no problems with it.**

 **Stay Sober!**


	4. When Church Bells Ring

**The Cosmic Cycle**

* * *

 _ **Morality is the basis of things  
And Truth is the substance of all Morality.**_

 _ **-Mahatma Gandhi**_

 **Chapter 4**

 **When Church Bells Ring**

* * *

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

* * *

After the little earthquake, they found it wise to split up for the time being.

Currently he was leaning on the corner of a building; waiting for his mana to regenerate before he went into what he believed might be another area, chock-full of enemies he'd have to eradicate. Unfortunately for him, regaining his mana from zero usually took him around ten to fifteen minutes depending on if he was moving or not; which meant leaving the townspeople to whatever danger they might be facing at this very moment. At this very moment, he was there stewing in his thoughts.

As it stood, Coral couldn't enter into battle; not while she had to defend two people while they were unconscious, as well as a little girl. So she decided to hold up where they were; under the premise that there wouldn't be as many Grimm around the vicinity now that they had slain so many of them. He, on the other hand, would go out to investigate where the explosion occurred and deal with it accordingly. She asked him to head to the church on her behalf to make sure it hadn't been breached, as the townspeople were currently hunkered down there.

The man voiced his worries on leaving them alone of course, but she did have a few points. Inadvertently, he learned that these Grimm are drawn to places ripe with negative emotions, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think they would be attacked over them. Not to mention with the two guys out cold and Lily looking like she had a childhood crush on him, it really didn't seem likely they'd be ambushed by Grimm any time soon; and even if they were there would only be a few of them at most.

Reluctantly, he gave in to her plan, though not without leaving behind some insurance for their safety.

* * *

 _ **Earlier…**_

* * *

"What do you have in mind?" She replied, slightly cautious look adorning her face.

Geese, he was really gonna need to work for her approval, wasn't he?

"Relax, its nothing that might hurt any of you." He said, only to show a sheepish smile moments later. "Though their looks might scare you a bit."

"Oh. You have some backup then?" Coral inquired with slight surprise.

"…You could say that, yeah." He replied, manifesting his Dragon Staff. An eyebrow rose in confusion, the point of his vague answer flying over her head.

"…What?"

He smirked, pouring what little mana he regenerated standing there talking for the last couple minutes into the summoning tool. Moments afterwards his heart jumped again as his dragon came into existence; glowing just as brightly as when he saw him last.

Both of the girls stared, gobsmacked at the sight of them; completely at a loss for words. He internally giggled at them, not at all surprised that this would be their reaction to seeing a mythical beast.

"Heya bud, how've ya been?" His smirk turned into a genuine smile. The Dragon growled quietly, its eyes becoming half-lidded as he gently ran his hand up his snout. "Thanks for the help you gave me earlier. It seriously saved my bacon."

They gave a small nod to him in affirmation, before turning to the girls when they heard a quiet, drawn out whine. They almost looked as if smoke was coming from their ears. His smile grew to near-comical proportions, finding their reactions to meeting an _actual_ magician for the first time if what Coral said was any indication, and summoning a literal _dragon_ in front of them hilarious.

"I take it somethings wrong?" He said, barely holding back his laughter.

"Y… You just… How did…?" Coral sputtered. The sight of her, a woman who seemed military act like she just entered crazy-land made the man break into hearty laughter, unable to stop after hearing her failed response and seeing her expression. That seemed to drag her out of her stupor, giving him a heated glare while a light flush brushed across her cheeks. "Oh, you think that was funny then?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely." The man replied when his laughter finally died down, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. He almost burst into laughter again when the soldier puffed her cheeks and grumbled as she looked away, crossing her arms.

 _*…eeeee~*_

A small squealing that was increasing in crescendo grabbed his attention, turning to find Lily had stars in her emerald eyes as she almost began to scream again, but in excitement this time around rather than fear. It got to such a high pitch he almost had to plug his ears lest they get ruptured, when she stopped.

" _OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh_!" She shouted, hopping in place. Almost as if she were wielding magic herself, she suddenly appeared in front of the dragon. "Is that a _REAL_ _DRAGON_?!"

"Uhh…" He trailed off, wide-eyed at the bundle of energy currently standing at the snout of the spirit beast. Even _they_ looked a bit disturbed, though it seemed to be more for the look she was giving them. "…Yeah, though technically, he's known as a Stardust Dragon."

"He looks amazing!" She smiled, elated as she reached out a hand midway before hesitating, and looked his way. "C-can I pet him?"

The man blinked for a moment, and turned to his partner with a raised eyebrow that was asking for confirmation. He hovered there for several moments, though the man couldn't tell if he was lost in thought or not until they gave a small nod.

"…He seems okay with it, so I see no reason why you can't." He answered. The girl jumped in place for a second, having a giggling fit. "Just be careful to avoid his spikes, horn, teeth, and eyes, yeah?"

"I promise!" She replied quickly, walking closer to the divine-looking creature. She stood there for a moment, unsure where she should touch him, until the six-foot dragon tilted his body, giving her a better area to work with. The man smiled sincerely at this, watching as his eyes became half-lidded again as a hand ran down their blue skin; pleasantly surprised that a being as strong as him would willingly let a child treat him like something akin to a pet. Normally, summons were rather prideful, so the sight of this was out of this world.

"He feels so soft…" She trailed off, enamored by the mythical creature.

"Honestly, I think he's some sort of heavenly beast, or some-"

"Okay, I'm just going to stop you there." Coral interrupted, hands rubbing the temples under her helmet. "Do you mind providing context for us lowly muggles? Because I understand _nothing_ of what you're saying right now."

"…Oh. Right…Sorry." He replied slowly, chuckling ruefully with a small blush on his face. "So, uh… What I mean is that he's a benevolent being not of this dimension."

"So… He's an alien like you?" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well, yes and no. Unlike him I hail from the physical plane by which you and I abide, just born on a different world entirely, whereas he comes from another plane of existence altogether." The man explained. "Anyways, were getting a tad off topic here."

He looked to his Dragon, gaining his attention as they turned towards him.

"I need you to protect these four from Grimm that are invading their village while I check up on the rest of the residents who are currently residing from the church over there." The warrior pointed towards the tallest structure in the village. Satisfied when he received a nod from him, he looked towards Coral. "I'll head out then."

"Wait for a moment." She replied hurriedly, reaching into what he believed to be a hidden back pocket. Seconds later she grabbed his hand, dropping a small medallion that had the same wolf insignia as her breastplate had onto his palm. "Show this to them. When they see it, they'll know they can trust you."

He stared at the item for a second longer, and gave a small nod when the moment passed, slipping it into one of his inner jacket pockets. "Alright, thanks for that."

He walked towards his weapon's sheathe; the body of the Grimm it was thrown into having long since evaporated. Even the gore that had trailed across the weapon had dissolved, leaving it in its pristine condition. Grabbing it, he sheathed his blade before dematerializing it, and almost took to the air were it not for finding Lily standing in front of him.

Was every person in this village secretly a ninja or what?

"Please be careful, okay?" She said with a shy, yet worried tone. He let off another small smile, and tussled her hair again, inwardly chuckling when her face flushed again.

"I'll be careful."

* * *

 _ **Presently…**_

* * *

Afterwards, he flew off towards the church, though not before making a pit-stop close by to let his mana recharge before delving into the danger. He was still close by that he could make it there in less than a minute if something happened at the very least. He could hear the sounds of Grimm battling what he believed were the other members of her team, but by the sounds of the cacophony both sides were still trying to make headway.

 _*Ping!*_

Speak of the devil.

 **Health:**

 **494/500**

 **Mana:**

 **200/200**

Oh good, his health must've gone up while he was having his bath then.

"How much ammo do I still have though..?" He mumbled to himself. Closing his eyes for a moment, the kaleidoscope appeared in front of him, before stretching into a large rectangular sheet. The rainbow slowly turned into a gray color, with visible boxes being shown; some holding items or something similar while some of them were simply blank. Several of the slots were filled with the new items he recently obtained, as well as Excalibur and the Hallowed and Demonite bars. Looking over the items revealed their names, descriptions, and durability depending on whether or not armor or weapons were their intended use. As it stood, he had fifty slots for items; some of which could be made into a 'stack', so he could avoid filling up his inventory. It was certainly helpful for ammo, ore and food.

Over half of the slots were taken; some by the new ore he obtained and the ingots he carried, and others with the several different weapons, as well as his wrecked armor and an armored mask and chest-piece he had yet to use. Four of them were occupied with four stacks of food, just in case he happened to leave home for longer than a day.

Of the weapons he carried, he had his new blade Star Wrath, S.D.M.G. and Portal Gun, as well as True Excalibur, True Night's Edge, the Terra Blade, and the two summoning staves he recently obtained… speaking of the Stardust weapons; didn't he still have the other essences? He used the Stardust Essence, but only used the Vortex Essence in making both Phantasm and the Vortex Beater, but he still has yet to make any Solar Flare or Nebula weapons because of the invasion keeping him busy. He was found by The Moon Lord before he even had the chance to.

At any rate, he still had a few accessories in here too; namely the Fire Gauntlets, which would fit over his gloves whenever he needed them. The only reason he hadn't equipped them right now was due to the nasty habit they had of melting or setting on fire whatever they touched. He also had the Feral Claws which were placed into the dark leather gloves he was wearing, and the Counter-curse Mantra on the inside of his jacket to protect him from being cursed or unable to use his magic. The man also had an Invisibility and Night Owl potion left over from the fight; mostly because they wouldn't have worked against the beast anyway. Bastard had a way of seeing him despite being invisible. Maybe they could detect heat?

He did lose his sniper rifle though; which was a damn shame really. At this point, he really needed all the help he could get.

Satisfied with what he saw he pushed himself from the wall, expanding his wings and immediately taking to the air. He could see the tower of the church from where he had landed, so it was a relatively easy flight to make, though he still booked it just in case.

By the time he was over top the area he found it was surprisingly sequestered much to his confusion, with only a few Grimm around the plaza; one of which was tearing at the door, but not yet causing enough damage to break through. The door appeared to be iron-banded, not to mention that it was _massive_ ; easily reaching to triple his height and four times his width.

This did raise a question, however. If this place is void of the blood of the Grimm and villagers, then where was the fighting happening from?

The clamor of gunshots grabbed his attention, and he turned away from the church; scanning the open streets around the plaza. Pouring some of his mana into his ears, he attempted to pinpoint where the sounds were originating from-

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

-And immediately covered his ears, wincing in pain at how close in proximity that explosion sounded. Swearing, he deactivated the flow and waited for the ringing in his ears to cease.

He should have expected it after hearing explosions for the first time in this village, but _no~_. He just had to be an idiot and use the ability willy-nilly and deafen himself in the process. How the hell did he expect to save this goddamn settlement when he keeps making idiotic mistakes like this?!

…

He _really_ needed more sleep. Hopefully that would aid in fixing his stupidity.

' _Pulled a stupid stunt after she told me to be careful. Bet she'd be_ so _happy with me right now.'_

Sighing, the man simply hovered in the air, waiting for his hearing to kick in again; though that didn't stop him from trying to visibly spotting where the fighting was taking place. After all, they might very well need his assistance, whether they were the other huntsmen he encountered or not. The first thing he was able to hear besides the ringing was his ears popping, followed by small, muffled noises; probably the gunfire and explosions if previous sounds were any indication. Slowly the sounds became clearer, and this time, he poured a very small amount of magic into his ears and worked up from there.

It took half a minute to properly spot them; just barely being able to see them from where he was. The man drew closer with the intent of seeing whether or not they needed his help, but was pleasantly surprised to find both Magnus and Midori holding their own against a large group of Beowolves. Just in case though, he did a health check on the two to see if they might have been hit by any status ailments.

{Huntsman}

 **[** **Midori Fujita** **]**

 **Health:**

 **86/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **! %/!(%**

{Huntsman}

 **[** **Magnus** **Ström** **]**

 **Health:**

 **94/100**

 **%* &^:**

 **!^ &/ %)**

"Huh… I guess these Grimm can't cause any effects to their status?" He mumbled to himself, only to quickly shake his head, thinking otherwise. If that Death Stalker is as similar to actual scorpions as he thought they were, then it was probably likely they also had poison in that stinger of theirs. The Beowolves or Ursa might not have anything as egregious as that, but their fangs and claws are more than capable of causing a bleeding ailment.

The warrior hovered there, watching them fight for several seconds. Satisfied with what he saw he gave a small nod, turning back towards the church to clear out the Grimm that got through them, as well as any others that might've been smart enough to circle around them.

Circling around the plaza, he only found over half a dozen Beowolves wandering the perimeter of the church, which raised some red flags for him. If they could sense the negative emotion of the living, then chances were they already knew they were in the building. Adults are one thing when it comes to instances like this, and _maybe_ they could emotionally numb themselves with practice to prepare for such events, but a child would be overwhelmed by everything happening here.

And yet, for whatever reason, there was only one of them attacking the door.

' _I don't like this…'_ He thought tensely. There was more going on here than he could understand. Pieces of information he didn't have. Taking a guess at the very least, it was almost as if they were waiting on someone. It could've been the Grimm those two were currently fighting. _'And come to think of it, what the hell caused that explosion we all heard?'_

There didn't seem to be any damage done to the church or its surrounding areas besides its gate, so it certainly hadn't occurred here. Not to mention that if it had been a weapon that would've left behind a smoke trail that he could follow, so what-!

…

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind. Rushing wouldn't help solve the problem. He had to keep calm, and thoroughly analyze the situation. _Something_ caused that blast, but it clearly wasn't any type of explosive; if it were, he really would've seen that smoke trail. But if that's the case, then what else could it have been? If it was a melee weapon or the like, then it'd need to be moved with a great deal of force to make a sound that loud, as well as feel the vibrations of it.

There was something niggling in the back of his head; a piece of information he overlooked. He took a step back, and looked around the area. If the Beowolves in the plaza were waiting on someone, then it would either have to be a great many others of their own kind or a few Ursa if they wanted to break through that door. If there were another Death Stalker, then it'd make it considerabl-.

…

Oh god.

His face paled as the man bolted to the ground, pulling out Excalibur and pocketing its scabbard before he systematically hunted down the Grimm in the area in a panic. If that explosion wasn't really an explosion, but rather a Grimm as large as or larger than the Death Stalker he encountered, and they were drawn to negative energy; like say the one like a Beowolf was incurring by repeatedly scaring just about all of the townspeople…

Then the plaza was about to become a warzone.

He'd have asked the other two to give him a hand if he could, but they were already aiding him by keeping the other Grimm off his back. He'd have to go at this alone, despite not knowing what he was going up against. At the very least though, he can clean up the place a bit to try and make it even between them.

It wasn't too hard to do really; what with there only being a dozen or so of them spread out pretty evenly over the large plaza. By the time they actually noticed him he'd slain half their group, and even then they still couldn't deal with him despite their numbers. The last of them was still beating on the door, smashing against it in what amounted to a panic. Sheathing his blade he switched it out for his rifle, all while reaching out with his other hand towards the beast; his mana turning purple as it crawled up his hand again. A small runic circle appeared on the palm of his hand before fading out, though the mana coursing through his hand had become slightly brighter. A purple aura started to surround the beast. When it fully encompassed them they froze in place, no longer able to move. Drawing his arm back sharply made the beast fly backwards much in the same manner. Letting the magic fade, the warrior aimed his weapon slightly ahead of where they were going to go, and pulled the trigger.

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

It legs and stomach burst into giblets and ichor. The beast letting loose a small wail before the lights in its eyes went out; its corpse bouncing across the ground with a dull thud as its black blood left a trail.

He gave the area another once over; in case some of the other Grimm Midori and Magnus were fighting happened to get past them, and was happy to find the surrounding area completely barren of life besides himself. Taking the silence in stride, he sat himself on the cobblestone; both to give himself a moment to breathe, and allow his mana to recharge the small amount he used. His beater faded into starlight as the man took small breaths through his mouth.

Though he wouldn't admit to it, his lack of sleep was starting to catch up with him again. Sure, he was a fighter, and gone for a day or two without sleeping, but pushing himself to the extent of four days while fighting an army single-handedly wasn't really what he intended. Rather, he was hoping he could get some sleep while taking care of the different groups of them; after all, sleep stops us from doing stupid shit. Reality however, sadly had a different take on the matter, and whenever he managed to defeat one of them and destroy their pillar the others influence expanded. And when they expanded, so too did the reach of the soldiers who dwelled within them. So really, up until now he never really had a chance to properly sit down and decompress. Hell, even this morning became its own little event; what with seeing a Grimm for the first time having its windpipe crushed by his guardian, and coming across children having an emotional moment after something happened to the other residents who worked in what he believed to be some mines.

It's been one helluva week so far, and he suspected that it wouldn't end for yet a few days either.

' _Well, shit.'_ He sighed, closing his eyes as he propped his hand under his chin, simply enjoying the silence while it lasted…

…

 _*thump*_

…

 _*Thump!*_

'… _Really?'_

He let out a small groan as he opened his eyes, finding a Grimm that looked akin to a Silverback booking it down what he assumed to be the main road.

 _*THUMP!*_

' _Why do you hate me god?'_

The man jumped to his feet, and again he materialized his sword while surveying his enemy.

Any boy was he goddamn _frightening_ to look at. Simian in nature and about twice his size while it was on all fours, and probably four times if it ever stood straight up. Bone plates covered its thighs, shoulders and forearms, hips, and spine; with the largest of them placed on their pectorals. The simian bone mask framed glowing red eyes; brighter than any he'd seen from the Grimm. Their teeth were nothing but incisors, the largest of which were on the front corners of its mouth, with the fangs on the lower jaw being larger than its upper counterpart.

Its eyes glowed brighter when it finally took notice of him, locking onto him as it let out a loud growl from its throat. The beast leaned back, standing on its legs before giving out a vehement roar at its new prey, enough that he could _feel_ the vibration from where he was standing.

{Low-Class Elite}

 **[** **Beringel** **]**

 **(Grimm)**

 **Health:**

 **10000/10000**

"Well _shit_." The warrior swore to himself. It was the first he'd seen of a creature that had an 'Elite' tag placed on them. It was either they were a boss monster via flavor text or an event monster, or they weren't. Not to mention that its health was equal to a Paladin; and it was still a low class! "Question is, are they as resilient as one?"

' _ **I have a sneaking suspicion we'll find out.**_ _'_ Callie dryly stated, getting an eyeroll in response.

The simian lunged at him, forcing the man out of his musings as they swung their hands downward, leaving bits of cobblestone and dirt flying through the air; making a small crater where the man dodged. He pulled out his Vortex Beater and fired a shot at the beast, only for them to deftly flatten themselves on the ground as it flew over their head, and into the poor building that was behind them. The man grimaced as it exploded, leaving a gaping hole between two of the floors. At the very least, he could repair it relatively quickly as long as he had the materials, but he didn't really find enjoyment in destroying other people's property if he could help it.

He focused his attention on the Beringel as it got to its feet, giving him a deep guttural growl as its hands crushed the stone beneath it. It seemed to have a decent mind on its shoulders, as they simply stood there, waiting for whatever attack the man may send their way. His eyes narrowed. Did the degree of their intelligence vary from body types, or was it something else?

Nonetheless, he braved the dangers as he jumped in. Even if he did get harmed he would slowly learn how the beast fought. 'Trial and Error' was all he needed in order to adapt to his enemy.

Bringing his sword to bear, he launched himself at the muscled beast who roared at him as it swung its fists down. The warrior danced around them, giving a quick slice along the side of its stomach before he brought his sword in front of another oncoming fist. A loud slam reverberated between them as the man was sent flying several feet away from the Beringel, coming to a stop while trying to keep an eye on his opponent.

' _ **Augh, gods damn it!**_ _'_ Callie yelled out. _'_ _ **Could you NOT let me take the hit again?!**_ _'_

He could only let a small grunt of affirmation out before he charged again, having to dodge around another swing. This time however the man rammed the blade into its shoulder. The beast swung around, standing on its two legs as it attempted to reach over and remove the nuisance only for the man to swing around the blade like a gymnast on a pole and flying slightly above the creature; somehow managing to pull out Excalibur in the process. In his free hand he materialized a purple blade larger in both length and size to its white counterpart.

The blade itself was just short of the width of his body, coming short by half a foot. The back of the blade had a small indent at its middle that ended a foot before the base of the blade, and was colored a bright green. The flat of the blade was colored a royal purple, whereas its edge had a patriarch purple hue. The guard had a upside-down green cross placed in its middle, and was shaped like jagged horns which pointed downward towards its green and purple hilt; its colors lacing together all the way down to the pommel.

 **[** **True Night's Edge** **]**

 **Durability: 7322/9500**

 **90 Damage**

 **+4% Critical strike chance**

 **Average Knockback**

 **Fast Swing speed**

 **+Able to fire glowing projectiles**

Spinning his blades into a reverse hold, the man gave a strong flap of his wings; increasing his velocity towards his target. His swords met their shoulders before the beast had any time to react, but only dug themselves half a foot deep. The warrior's eyes widened slightly in surprise; amazed at the creatures resistance despite not having any form of armor besides its own crazy skeletal structure. A muffled yelp passed his lips when the Beringel grabbed him by the head and swung his body repeatedly onto the ground; leaving cracks in the stone. After several swings the Grimm tossed him hard into another of the buildings that surrounded the plaza, leaving a rather sizable hole in the two-story house.

He let loose a disoriented groan as he opened his eyes, finding his vision swimming slightly; whether or not this was from lack of rest or ramming through a building, he didn't know. His legs hanged from whatever remained of the wall, noticing with a wince the large hole he made.

"That's another house I need to fix…" He grumbled, shaking his head to his visual ailment.

' **YEESH, WHAT THE HELL DID I WAKE UP TO?** _'_ A strong yet rough voice of a woman called out. The man blinked, finding his dark blade lying over his stomach. Looking around, he frowned when he couldn't find Callie in any of the debris. A clattering sound grabbed his attention, and he propped himself on his arms to look over the edge of the wall. The Grimm had removed the blade from its shoulder, and stared at where he crash landed for a moment before its attention diverted towards the doors of the church. It seemed to be drawn to the collective negativity of the villagers rather than the object of its ire as a small amount of drool worked its way down its chin. The man paled slightly, and started to pull himself from the wreckage as the beast started sprinting towards the church.

"No time to talk Night, were saving some villagers." The man uttered quickly, jumping out from the hole once he righted himself.

 _*_ _ **BANG!**_ _*_

The sound of screams alerted him to the imminent danger, finding the Beringel buried arm deep in the door. Reaching out with his mana as he ran, the man pulled his fallen sword to him; grabbing it in reverse by its middle. Skidding to a stop directly behind the beast, a pink corona surrounded the blade as he held it like a javelin.

' _Ready for launch?'_

' _ **Ready.**_ _'_

Mana poured out from the center of his chest; turning yellow as it crawled up his arm. A runic circle appeared for a moment, bearing the symbol of a lightning bolt, before it sank into his arm. A grunt of pain involuntarily came out; his muscles contracted violently as he forcefully broke his body's natural limiter. If he couldn't pierce him properly the normal way, then he was going to have to do something incredibly reckless.

Only the moment the beasts roar and the villagers screams mixed together did he cast away the last of his doubt. Stomping his left foot onto the ground cracked the cobblestone beneath him, only to be followed by a loud snarl as he threw his weapon with all his might-

 _*CRACK!* *RIP!*_

-Shortly followed by the sound of the bones and muscles in his arm cracking and tearing.

Holding back his screams, the warrior watched with teary eyes as the beast cried out in anguish, struggling to remove itself from its new restraint that was buried in the side of its stomach. Very quickly, he pulled out a set of gauntlets that were glowing a bright orange on the fingers.

 **[** **Fire Gauntlets** **]**

 **+80% Increased Melee Knockback**

 **+10% Melee Damage**

 **+10% Melee Attack Speed**

He forced them onto his hands, wasting a minimal amount of time before he raced forward; grabbing the hilt of the blade with arcane magic and ripping it out of the beast's liver. The Grimm flailed as it lost its balance; hitting the ground with a small tremor. Once the blade returned to his hand he dematerialized them both, switching them out for his Hamaxe. The Beringel was rushing to stand, but left itself in the perfect position for the warrior to send them flying at least two dozen feet from the door with a heavy swing of the blunt side of his weapon; his arms clad in lightning and wind.

The pain he was feeling in his arms was immense, and he was biting into his lower lip to the point that it bled to keep himself from screaming out. At the very least, he discovered that applying wind magic along with Phys-En seemed to lessen the pain somewhat.

' _Swear to god, when I see Greum again I'm going to be the most attentive student ever seen in this age.'_ He swore to himself as his arms shook slightly. _'I will train diligently, and never tune him out again... Hopefully.'_

Taking this moment of quiet to his advantage he pocketed the weapon and materialized a metal mask over his face that was cut open from the top, allowing his hair to fall down the back of his neck; covering the metal as it looped around the back of his head. A hiss sounded from the sides of the headpiece as six triangular pieces abruptly clamped down around his ears, taking on a hexagonal shape as it secured itself. Metal encased the entirety of the front of his face save for the tinted visor covering his eyes. The sound of fans whirring could be heard coming from the series of small holes on the masks cheeks, allowing the man to breathe, as well as protect him from harm from whatever that might float through the air.

 **[** **Modified Hallowed Mask** **]**

 **{Attachments: Oxygen Filters, Fans, Visor, Pneumatic Pumps}**

 **14 Armor**

 **+10% Melee Damage**

 **+10% Melee Attack Speed**

 **+Immunity to airborne materials that cause Poison, Confusion, Silence and Darkness**

Grabbing the sides of the mask, the man gave it a hard shake to see how it held together on his head and found it to be rather secure on him, much to his great satisfaction. If Sophia and Trogem could see the state of their combined invention _actually working_ , he couldn't help but imagine that they would've jumped for joy, accidentally kissed one another, and then proceeded to make out. What might follow after, he wouldn't say, but it would've been a _long_ time coming.

"No time like the present to test this." He mumbled quietly to himself, materializing his new red and yellow blade. Looking towards his enemy – and grumbling at himself for not noticing sooner – he found the beast had risen to its feet; their eyes radiating brightly with unrestrained anger towards him. The warrior gripped its hilt tighter as he threw it over his shoulder, the blade gaining a dark pink and white corona. He gave the blade a mighty swing…

…Only for the glow to suddenly flash and disappear.

The man went wide-eyed behind his visor, blinking slowly for a moment before he noticed the Beringel let out a terrifying roar; swinging its fists onto the ground. They would have begun charging at him were it not for the ever-increasing sound of whistling that gained both of their attention. Looking around the area, he couldn't see where it was coming from, until he looked up into the sky, and his jaw summarily dropped.

" _Ho-lee shit. That's a new one._ " He uttered, his voice sounding like the receiving end of a walkie-talkie. The beast took notice of where his mask had wandered to, and followed suit, finding itself staring at three white stars surrounded by a furious pink aura as they tore through the sky towards the beast.

The cry of surprise they shrieked out as the stars plowed the Grimm was, in his honest opinion, epic beyond words. He really wished he had a camera to save this moment. The sight of a gnarly looking beast screaming at the top of its lungs as falling stars crashed into it was an amazing sight.

' _Ahh well. It'll always be in my memories at least.'_ The man thought to himself with mock humor, glad he had decided to throw his mask on when he did. The dust that was thrown up from the crash was so thick that he couldn't see farther than a foot in front of him.

Over the course of a few minutes the fog that had taken over the area slowly started to clear. The lip of a crater could be made out in front of him; appearing to only run a few feet deep from what he could tell, but was several feet wide. A garble groan made him jump into a stance, and he saw the silhouette of the beast on the ground in the center of the crater. They hadn't started dissolving yet like all the other Grimm he had come across yet. Carefully, he walked towards the beast; using a small amount of wind magic to clear the area slightly faster.

Much to his surprise when he was finally able to make out the Grimm's body, he found that not all of the creature was there. Its left arm was missing from just above the elbow down, and both of its feet looked to have melted if the black puddles beneath its new bubbling stumps were any indication. The plating along its chest had cracks running along it, with small chunks of the rib plating along its left side missing some rather large pieces; probably from where one of the stars struck its hand. Some of its flesh had thinned out enough that he could see a red glow coming from within the creature, and he couldn't help but wonder what hell-spawn decided to create these beasts.

He stared at the sight in stunned awe before looking at his blade. The damage that was listed by the blade and the damage that was actually done to the beast was _way_ off. How in the heck was he able to do so much damage? I mean, sure, everything had a melting point. He gets that, really. But to the point where he's able to flat out go against the systems damage to health point registry? It didn't make sense!

Was it possible that the areas that were affected and were cut slash melted off had an effect on the beings health in some way? It would make sense in context. After all, he was affected pretty badly when he had part of his stomach evaporated, so something like this wasn't exactly far-fetched in theory and execution.

In any case, he pretty much saved his own ass inadvertently; though it did come at the cost of part of the plaza and a few surrounding buildings.

Hopefully, they won't be _too_ pissed about that…

Tossing the blade into his other hand and flipping it into a reverse grip, he pulled out his rifle as he walked closer to the beast; coming to a stop just out of reach of its remaining hand. A wise move, as the creature lunged at him, just coming short. He couldn't help but snort when they fell to the ground with an audible _*Smack!*_ , growling loudly as they turned their face towards him, roaring at the man while bearing their fangs. The warrior gave them a hard kick to the face, causing black blood to coat the foot of his shoe and part of the ground, and caused the beast to flip onto its back. Before the beast had the time to even register what had happened, they found the barrel of a gun shoved into their mouth.

"Kindly fuck off all the way to the underworld, monster." He uttered darkly, his voice as sharp as the weapons he wielded. The Beringel's eyes widened in what he believed to be mute fear as he pulled the trigger.

 _*_ _ **BOOM!**_ _*_

The back-blast from the explosion he caused made his hair and jacket fly wildly in the air. Luckily _this time_ he only fired one shot directly into what could be considered an enclosed space, so the damage done to himself was negligible for the most part. The only form of pain he felt came from the intense heat that could be felt through even his thick gloves, and the injuries he suffered from being thrown in that building.

When the smoke and steam finally cleared, the man found himself staring what remained of its lower jaw that hadn't been blown or melted off from the heat and the explosion. He stared at what remained of the creature, a frown adorning his face under the mask as he wondered how such creatures came to be, and worried at how long they might've been here for. All things considered, it had to have been long enough for the residents of the area to have grown used to them somewhat. They were still a danger, sure, but that didn't exclude the shocking normality that Coral had shown to the invasion. It seemed to her like it was just another day. Not to mention the villagers themselves; they were still frightened by these beasts, which was never in question, especially so with the screams he heard when they plowed a hole through the door. But the fact that they already had a general idea of how to deal with a situation like this told him that incidents like this were dealt with at a _shocking_ regularity.

Just how long was he gone?

His thoughts were put on hold when his vision swam again, leaning on his rifle that he punched into the ground as he was assaulted from a sudden bout of vertigo.

" _That hit must've been worse than I thought…_ " He mumbled to himself, attempting to hold down whatever bile that might've still been in his system. " _Either that or I'm still pretty exhausted… or my wound got an infection from that green blood…_ "

The man couldn't stop the wince that crossed his paling face. While the thought was entertaining, he seriously hoped the whole 'Star Lord' thing didn't actually happen. It was meant to be a joke, nothing more! Not taking this to chance, he looked to the corner of his eye again.

 **Health:**

 **361/500**

 **Mana:**

 **112/200**

 **Current Ailments:**

 **[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

' _I can live with that.'_ He thought , slumping forward in relief, and much to his surprise exhaustion. _'A damn sight better than the alternative at the very least, though being weakened_ after _the battle seems a tad cliché, even for my tastes. Maybe it was my adrenaline wearing out again?'_

The sound of creaking grabbed the man's attention, and he turned around as quickly as it tired body could while raising his rifle to where he thought his next enemy was. His eyes widened in slight surprise, lowering his gun at the sight of a woman with long red hair sticking her head out between a small opening from the door. She flinched slightly when she realized that she got his attention, and started to sweat a little at the sight of him. It belatedly dawned on him that they weren't sure if he was friend of foe.

He pocketed both of his weapons; making both of them vanish into starlight, much to the wide-eyed surprise of the woman. The man slowly raised a hand, giving a light wave in an attempt to her to show he meant no harm. The woman stood there for several moments, doing nothing more than stare at him, and making him worry that he might have done something wrong. Those fears abated slightly when she awkwardly waved back, looking rather uncomfortable with the situation. Maybe he should've just shown her the insignia?

He gradually lifted his other arm and reached into his coat at a slow pace, stopping when he saw the woman flinch back. Quickly, the man raised his injured arm in a placating expression, pulling out the small trinket and showing it to her. The woman stood there for several moments without showing any reaction besides her eyes narrowing, only for them to subsequently widen and for her to bolt towards him rather suddenly, making the man flinch. It was only slightly though.

She wore interesting clothing; some of it understandable considering the season they seemed to be in. A slightly baggy sweater hung around her torso, even over her neck- though the specific name of the sweater type escaped him. The long boots she wore were understandable for where they seemed to live, though the tight-fitting jeans made him wonder if the outfit was more meant for style than work. A fashion statement perhaps?

Several shouts could be heard from inside the building – probably from the woman suddenly running out of the church – and the sounds of an alarming amount of people running towards the door followed soon after. Despite what he heard from the children, this town seemed to be pretty well put together if other townspeople would come charging towards the unknown for one of their own. God willing, first contact between him and a town that seemed new to magic went well; otherwise he might have to start knocking people out to the last.

Hopefully, this trinket will avert that possibility.

"So…" The woman stood at the lip of the plaza's new crater, petering out momentarily before her voice came back; holding a stronger tone to it. "Coral sent you here?"

 **[** **Alani Hayes** **]**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

"Indeed." He nodded in affirmation, noticing others coming out of the structure. "She would have come herself, but she's currently preoccupied with protecting two children and her unconscious teammate."

"Children?" A woman repeated, gaining his attention. A loose violet dress shirt, stylish jeans and black dress shoes went ignored; his vision favoring the black tail and eye color similar to the boy he encountered. Worry adorned her face, as well as a surprised expression from Alani at the mention of them. "Are their names Troy and Lily?"

 **[** **Iris Spraggan** **]**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

His eyes widened momentarily behind his visor, shaking it off seconds afterwards with a genuine smile.

"Indeed. Both of the children are fine; though one of them was unconscious. It's nothing major-" He hastily added at the woman's fearful gasp. "-by what I saw he only got knocked out from defending his friend from a Grimm. He looked completely healthy, without any wounds to speak of."

Everyone stood there in silence, even the ones he didn't notice had come out from the building until tears ran down Iris's cheeks as she began sobbing in relief. A few of the other villagers close by in case they needed her, with some even rubbing her gently on her back; a damn fine sight considering what he heard was happening to the Faunus population in this… _wherever_ he was. Alani visibly slumped while sighing, glad that the children were safe. Despite the situation he grinned behind his helmet at their reaction; glad that he managed to improve their mood somewhat. Though the question still remains on what could have caused such a negative reaction to bring such beasts to their doorstep.

His brows furrowed in concern. Was it possible the racism the Faunus deal with had a part to play in that? From what he could guess, it seemed pretty likely. Even though children have a tendency to lie or act out like the world circles around them chances were this wasn't the case. After all, what child would cry and wonder if the world thought they were better off dead.

' _Gonna need to check into this later…'_

For the time being, the man contented himself with the sight of the smiles and laughs of the villagers. Even the children had come up to the doorway, peeking out over the edge of the door towards him with either awe or caution. He stared on; a small smile on his face at the view before his vision swam again; making him cup his face in his hand with tightly closed eyes.

"Hey… are you alright?" The man looked up into the eyes of Alani, who was staring at him with a small amount of concern. "You look like you've had a nasty fight with that Grimm, considering you have rubble in your hair."

He blinked at her for a moment before reaching into his hair; indeed finding pieces of the building he crashed into stuck in his hair. A quick brush through his hair with his hands removed what debris he could find, though the question if he got it all still hung in the air until he could find a mirror.

"Yes, apologies." He calmly replied with a chuckle. "I've only slept around two hours over the last four or five days, so I'm a bit out of it right now. Probably didn't help that I was thrown into a building by the bugger though."

Alani winced, giving an expression of sympathy. She opened her mouth to say something only to be interrupted by an old man.

"If its rest you seek, then we will gladly accommodate one who came to our aid." An old man called out. The fellow was rather short and slightly wrinkly, and a head of laid back and slightly poofy gray hair halfway through the process of balding, and a curly mustache to match the look. He wore formal attire, wearing khaki colored jacket and pants with a yellow tie underneath, along with a worn set of dress shoes that looked to have seen better days. The old man's eyes widened slightly, and he chuckled, raising a hand to the man when he got close enough. "Ah, where are my manners. My name is Alvis Dahl. I'm the mayor of this fine town of North Waters."

 **[** **Alvis Dahl** **]**

 **Health:**

 **86/90**

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." The warrior replied as his hand met the mayor's own, before looking around the area. "I do apologize for the property damage my fight has caused. It got a slight bit… out of hand I'm afraid."

"Oh pish posh lad, a little property damage won't get in the way of this town. We've survived more than a single skirmish by both the Grimm and bandits alike." Alvis waved his hand in an unworried manner, giving off a jovial tone. "We'll get by, like we always do."

"Still, better to say it anyway." He said, only to mutter glumly. "Most tend to think I'm a jerk whether or not I do, but I still feel the need to say it in either case."

"Oh, it's all water under the bridge my boy. Such things happen in situations such as these. Don't let it worry you so!" The man shrugged in response, okay with letting it drop but still felt a bit guilty about it. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you my dear boy?"

Oh right… he never _did_ say his name, did he?

Reaching for the hexagonal plates, the man moved one of them out of the way of both sides, revealing two small red buttons that he pressed at once. The pneumatic lines in the mask hissed, and the plates retracted, allowing him to pull of the helmet. He gave them a small smile as the dust cleared; allowing the sun to appear behind the man.

"My name is Jonas, sir." He replied. "Jonas Everblue."

* * *

 **Well hot damn! Finally revealed this buggers name!  
Took a while too.**

 **I'll admit, it's a bit lax in terms of action, but it was more for character-building than anything. Apologies for that.**

 **Bit of an F.Y.I. to those who might not have thought about it or bothered to look, but I usually update my profile regarding chapters and the like. Feel free to check to keep yourselves updated.**

 **Once again, if you have any questions, feel free to critique my work or contact me. I'll answer as best as I can!**

 **Have a good one!**


	5. Finally, a moment's respite!

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Finally, a moment's respite!**

* * *

 _ **Several Hours Later…**_

* * *

"-ould you cut it out Troy? He's trying to sleep!"

"I just want to see if he's as good as you say he is."

…?

"By drawing on him in his sleep?!"

"That's the idea."

The sound of children trying and failing to argue quietly brought him back from dreamless slumber. Cracking one of his eyes open slightly revealed blue wallpaper and a window that showed the beautiful afternoon sky; clear of all but a few clouds. Quietly flipping himself over, Jonas found himself staring into part of the night-side table that was blocking his view of the door, which lead out into the hallway of the inn he was currently resting at. His wings hung over the lip of the bed, giving off a gentle glow

The mayor and people of the town had happily given him a place to sleep and recover from his fatigue, refusing all the while from taking his 'Lien'; what he assumed to be the towns primary source of currency instead of the gold, silver, and copper coins he carried on hand. He would have teleported himself home instead, but he had shattered his magic mirror during his fight with the Lunatic Cultist when he believed him to be dead. Bugger shot it right out of his hand and destroyed the thing.

Reality came calling when the kids were attempting to pick the lock of his door. Smirking slightly until he forced his face into a neutral expression, Jonas closed his eyes and pretended to sleep; leaving his eyes opened only slightly so he wouldn't get busted.

The jangling continued for a couple of minutes until the lock finally turned, and the door opened slightly, letting a small amount of light in through the crack. The black haired boy peeked through the opening, getting a lay of the land. Bandages wrapped around his head, making the man frown for a second before returning it to its un-emotive expression. The boy smirked when he found him still 'alseep' he slowly opened the door, cringing slightly when the old door gave out a few squeaks in protest, clearly not having been oiled for a while until he had enough space to slip inside the room. Troy peered around the entirety of the room for a few minutes, and smiled in satisfaction.

"And he didn't even prepare for an ambush." He muttered while rolling his eyes. Jonas did everything he could not to smile and give himself away to the other two children who slowly creeped into the room. Lily gave him a heated glare in retaliation. "So much for being an _amazing_ fighter."

He inwardly raised an eyebrow at his insult. It was true he wasn't exactly awake to see the fight, not to mention that if Coral's reaction was any indication, then magic appeared to be nothing more than a fantasy here; wherever here was anyway. Still, he didn't like to be called a fake.

"U-umm, could we not do this? It really doesn't seem like a good idea." The smaller girl standing next to Lily whispered nervously, her hazel eyes repeatedly looking towards him while gripping Lily's sweater. Small pointed ears drooped down, almost meshing in perfectly to her short blonde hair that it was nearly impossible to make out, and a long tail that matched the color of her hair. A set of overalls were worn over colorful blue and white sneakers that seemed to have been drawn upon, and a half-covered orange-red t-shirt.

 **[** **Vermillion Sensor** **]**

(Faunus)

 **Health:**

 **64/64**

"What's wrong Vermi, are ya scared?" Troy asked playfully with an amused glint in his eyes. A heated glare from Lily quickly made him turn back towards the winged man while her little sister stood behind her, tightly clenching the fabric of her sweater.

"D-do we really w-want to play a prank on the one who saved everyone from a really strong Grimm all on his own though? W-what if he gets mad?" The little girl's voice wavered.

Jonas mentally winced. Exuberant minds tend to wander in both the most glorious and horrid places; and the last thing he wanted was for her, or any other, to wander into darker territory when it came to him.

With Troy being intent on drawing on him though, it presented him a wonderful opportunity to both eliminate that way of thinking, and get a little bit of payback.

The kid drew closer to him, pulling out a black marker and removing the top. Ever so slowly, he reached out toward his face. The man resisted the smile that attempted to force itself onto his face as the boy began to sweat; and his hand trembling. Ever so slowly the marker inched toward him, stopping centimeters from his forehead. The boy gulped loudly and pushed forwa-

"BOO!" Jonas opened his eyes wide and shouted into the room, making the children scream in response. He tripped over his own feet, and would've fell to the ground had the warrior not grabbed him with his magic; keeping a hold of him by his wrists and ankles. Hardy laughter filled the room, and the kids stood there – or floating in the case of one individual – holding a hand over their chests while wheezing loudly as Jonas sat himself up, and wrapped his hands around his stomach. One of his tendrils hung over his shoulder as he started to cough. "O-oh god, your reactions we're priceless!"

"W-what the-?! How long were you awake?!" The boy half yelled, glowering at him.

"Since you two started arguing in front of my door." He replied cheekily, a large smirk on his face. "Something you might not have thought of kid, but I'm a _really_ light sleeper, considering what I deal with on a daily basis."

"Well, whoop-de-fricking-doo, good for you." Troy grumbled as he stayed afloat in the air, his brows furrowed in an attempt to look intimidating, yet failing due to the blush on his cheeks. "Can you put me down? As much fun as this is, I'd rather not be held against my will."

A large smirk grew on his face as he cocked an eyebrow towards the kid. "Oh don't worry, I will. Just need to dish out your punishment before I do." Jonas looked toward him with an evil gleam in his eyes; his smirk turning slightly feral. Troy paled and started to sweat; looking as if he was inwardly cursing himself for his stupidity. All of a sudden, his shoes flew off his feet, and the man's tendrils bent towards him, wiggling at the tips. Realizing the situation he was in with wide eyes, he struggled against his magical binds in a vain effort to escape him, but there was no longer a way to escape his wrath. The tendrils flew towards him…

…And the room filled with laughter.

"S-s-stop!" Troy burst out laughing, his body movements becoming frantic as the warriors wings found purchase beneath his armpits and feet. Jonas cackled wickedly as his prey pitifully tried to escape him, making the smug grin on his face grow all the larger. "L-let me go! Please! I-I-I'm gonna pee myself!"

"Hey Lily." The man said, grabbing her attention. The girls took a few steps away from him with pale faces as sweat dripped passed their brows. He chuckled slightly to that but waved them off. "Relax; I know you two weren't exactly in cahoots with him on this." Both Lily and Vermillion slumped forward, giving out an audible sigh that made him snicker to himself.

"So… What do you want then?" She responded hesitantly, and leaned away from him when she saw the evil smile growing on his face.

"You know where this guy's most ticklish?"

"D-don't you d-dare!" He said in between laughing fits. The girl looked between him and the man still sitting on the bed, a small smirk slowly adorning her face.

"…He's ticklish behind the knees."

"Y-you traITOR!" Troy cried out; his voice raising a few octaves when the tentacles met their targets. The boy's eyes started to water

"My my, aren't you ticklish!" He chuckled. The sounds of laughter made him smile sincerely, looking at the sisters and giving them a wink. Lily broke out in a blush, head tipping forward slightly as her fingers started to poke one another. Vermillion was giving him a large smile that went from ear to ear; her eyes shining in the afternoon light.

It looked like his mission was successful.

A flurry of footsteps alerted him to another incoming presence. He wore a small smirk as the door suddenly slammed open. The sisters jumped as Coral barreled into the room with her face scrunched up in a snarl with her spear leveled; her helm looking lopsided as if she placed it on in a hurry. Iris trailed in behind her with a worried expression; probably hearing the sounds of her son. Both of which faded nearly instantly as they're minds finally registered what was occurring. The spears tip lowered to the ground as the soldier let out a frustrated sigh, while iris lifted a hand to her face to hide the smile growing on her lips.

"Hey there!" Jonas greeted them jovially all while bearing a face of innocence.

"…What did you do?" Coral questioned with a raised eyebrow; a scowl placed firmly on her facial features.

"Nothing whatsoever. I just found this little one attempting to draw on my face with permanent marker in my sleep." He grinned in response, lifting the item in question in front of Coral between his fingers. He had grabbed it from the boy when he dropped the article, though if the expression the sisters were giving him was any indication they didn't notice. "All I'm doing is giving him part one of his punishment."

"…Okay, I'll bite." She groaned, her head in her hand again; though he didn't miss the corners of her mouth curving upward, though only slightly. "What's part two?"

"You haven't already guessed?" The man twirled the marker between his fingers with a gleam in his eyes. He looked towards the other occupants. "I'm thinking panda; are you thinking panda?"

* * *

 _ **Minutes Later…**_

* * *

A chorus of laughter could be heard on the main floor as the man used the bathroom that was adjoined to his temporary living quarters. Much to his eternal enjoyment, and the boys utter humiliation, Vermillion went out while he was styling his face like the aforementioned bear; coming back with a white wig that the boy was forced to wear as retribution. It was actually quite funny to hear in whispers from Lily that her little sister could hold such a grudge over the boy. Apparently, they had an ongoing war between each other that had lasted for almost two years; and evidently, most of the village ended up in the crossfire.

She didn't go into too many specifics of how bad it got, but it seemingly escalated to the point of colored glue, worms, and feathers ending up in places where they shouldn't have been

' _Seriously, how_ did _they manage to make it explode all the way to the church bells?'_ Jonas thought with interest. It couldn't have been magic, if what corals reaction to his proclamation told him.

His face creased a bit in worry, but banished those thoughts for the time being. He would wait until he asked around to confirm his suspicions. Until then, he had more important things to worry about right now.

It had become apparent that there was a stigma against the Faunus population, and a significant one if it made a child question the value of his own life. He also saw some signs of this that came from a small amount of the local population. It wasn't anything quite extreme, but enough to garner his attention all the same.

The occurrence took place when he was on his way to the town's local inn, which was located close to the edge of the town. Considering the size of the village it wasn't all that odd that there was only one tavern, though admittedly, it was a rather large building; looking like it was able to house a few dozen travelers at a time, with a bar down on the main floor large enough to accommodate as much. He hadn't had the chance to get a bit to eat, but from what he could smell, the cooks could make some delectable aromas come from the kitchen.

But, he was getting off topic.

He had stayed behind to fix the damage he caused in his fight; which didn't take all that long to fix considering the basic materials for the houses and cobblestone flooring of the plaza was already there. Afterwards he was led by the mayor and the two women he had met, passed the group of shocked villagers who saw him at work. It hadn't happened then due to their surprised personage, but rather when he met up with Coral's group on the way to the inn.

They had crossed each other again when he was a few houses away from the building; with Lily and a still unconscious Troy riding his dragon, which was strange enough if one put the spines that ran down his back into consideration. Though his partner was met with stares of fear and awe at the sight of him, he had noticed that a few of them were glaring at the children. Whether or not this was from envy, he didn't know, but better to keep an idea of the possibilities; considering he was in unknown territory.

He didn't know how this country acted towards its people. Hell, for all he knew, he was forcing himself to see the worst case scenario. It was possible that a few of them were worried about Troy, since more than a few of them had heard his declaration back in the plaza. Or maybe they wanted to take a ride on the dragon themselves. It wasn't anything major so it didn't stand out that much, but with the way he lived for the last ten years, noticing the small stuff was life and death for him. A small stare in their direction had their eyes looking in any other direction except his, only further increasing his concern. He had let it go at the time, but kept note of it nonetheless in case he needed to plan around it.

The man shook his head as he focused back on his menial task, removing his gloves and pulling up his sleeves to get a better look at his arms, and winced at the purple coloring that decorated them. In all honesty, considering what he had to do to save them, it wasn't really all that big a deal. A little bruising on his arms and temporarily excruciating pain in exchange for saving the townspeople was a choice he'd take any day of the week.

Someone without a decent knowledge on a low-end healing factor would probably find it odd that he had any remaining injuries at all, but having had the damned thing for ten years made him pretty intimate with the concept. While it did heal most of the damage done, the muscle and skin tissue still remained. So some of the damage would still be seeable for the next few days; whereas the injuries that were dealt with from his half-destroyed stomach had to be completely remade, thus leaving no signs.

Removing his coat, pocketing his scale mail and taking off his shirt, he found his body had formed some light bruises on his back; a testament to how much damage his body could take. It was mildly amusing that the worst of his wounds were the ones he inflicted on himself, intentionally or not.

The man dealt with his business and clothed himself again, armor included, and fixed what bedhead he had obtained during his _delightful_ nap. Making sure he didn't leave anything in the room, Jonas passed the threshold of the door that led to his room, closing it gently. He walked through a decently sized hallway at a slow pace, passing a dozen rooms before making his way to the stairs. Upon making it halfway down them, the right wall opened up into the entirety of the main floor. A decently sized bar was placed in the far corner, and multiple round tables placed all around the room numbering at least a couple dozen, with four chairs placed at each.

Most of which were filled with the people he had saved. One of them took notice of him, letting out a shout and pointing towards him. Before he knew it, after a few seconds the sound of cheers had spread around the room like a wave. He gave a sheepish smile as he walked down the rest of the stairs, giving a small wave while scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. There was the rare occasion that he was treated like this in the past, though most often it was to garner favor with the guy that slaughtered demons and monsters. It wasn't always the case, far from it, but it happened often enough that it was usually what he assumed was the purpose whenever it happened.

It was unfair, he knew as much; and not all of them did so with that purpose in mind, but it was an existence that happened enough to make him adapt to it and automatically believe it to be the intended goal.

Of course, it was still better than the treatment he got a _hell_ of a lot more often; which usually involved a lot of screaming, fire and pitchforks.

Though the villages he passed through didn't have taverns this advanced, what with the fridge placed underneath the over and under-bar; something that hadn't appeared at any point during his travel's whenever he stayed in a town for the night. He travelled everywhere on Terraria. Even made a map that listed all the areas and biomes that he visited; though it did become partially moot when he created the GPS that he carried in his inventory since it automatically updated where he's been.

"Ahh, Good Afternoon my boy!" The voice of the mayor carried over the din, silencing almost all present. Shifting his eyes through the crowd, he found the old man at one of the tables closest to the bars front door, and walked at an easy stride toward him. "Had a good rest, I hope?"

"Like you wouldn't _believe_." He grinned. "Would've slept in more, but I was interrupted by a prankster."

"Ah yes, young Troy." He murmured with a raised eyebrow, a hand placed under his chin in thought. "I noticed he came out with a wig on his head. I take it that was you're doing?"

The smirk that grew on his face was answer enough. Alvis guffawed, making said smirk turn into an embarrassed grin.

"Also drew a panda on his face with the marker he tried to use on me."

"A true sense of humor! I take it that was what the wig was for?"

"Well, it wasn't really my idea. Lily's little sister, at least I assume that's her little sister-" Jonas added hastily. Didn't want to give too many of his abilities away. "-Went out and grabbed the wig while I was creating face art."

"Ahh, another battle of the dangerous duo." He muttered as his brows furrowed. "Another game will soon commence no doubt."

"Yeah, Lily gave me the story on the two of them. Still reeling from the worm and feather incident."

The old man shuddered. "Those were dark times."

"I'll take your word for it if that's your reaction." He winced. A tapping on his shoulder alerted him to the presence of a young woman with short brown hair and small brown eyes that framed her face. She had an hourglass figure, and wore a taupe uniform which consisted of a dress shirt and pants with brown shoes. A small and simple name tag with the name 'Ember' adorned on her petite chest; which would've made it hard to tell her gender, were it not for her eyes and body shape. "Oh, hello. Do you need something?"

"That's what I should be asking you." Ember giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers. "Is there anything you'd like?"

"Oh, apologies, I don't have any cash on me at the moment."

"And we wouldn't want it anyway." She chided gently with a smile. "It's the least we can do for you since you saved us from that Beringel."

Jonas stared at her in silence for several seconds, making her furrow her brows in concern. It washed away when a small, yet appreciative smile propped up on his face.

The moment, however, was abruptly cut off by his stomach demanding sustenance; growling loudly enough that several tables could hear him. His eyes widened and a light blush dusted his cheeks, and Ember and Alvis quietly chuckled while those within range burst into hardy laughter.

"I take it you want some food?"

"My traitorous stomach agrees with you." He deadpanned, a smirk growing as the woman laughed. "What do you have for food and drinks?"

"For food we have T-bone steak with a side of lightly salted fries, sliced pork roast with potatoes boiled in pork broth and topped with assorted spices, spaghetti and meatballs topped with parmesan cheese, and pizza." She listed off. "For drinks we have rum, vodka, scotch, beer, gin, whisky, and a few other kinds if you're looking to get drunk. For non-alcoholic beverages we have orange and grape soda, as well as some fruity-"

"Did you say grape soda?" The woman and old man jumped from how serious his voice became, his eyes staring directly into the waitress's eyes. A shiver ran up her spine and nodded quickly, feeling as if the man was staring into her soul. A large smile grew on his face. "I'll take spaghetti with parmesan, and grape pop in the largest glass you can give me."

They stopped for a couple seconds and sighed loudly, the lady leveling a glare at him.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I know." He grinned half smugly, half apologetically. "Been a _really_ long time since I've had soda of _any_ nature though, let alone grape."

Ember made a small 'Ahh' of understanding, writing down his order on a small notepad; grabbing a pen from the pocket on her right shoulder before wandering towards what he believed to be the kitchen. Alvis looked ready to start talking again, only to be interrupted by the group of Huntsmen; including the two he had yet formally introduce himself to. Even Arun had come; though he was out of his armor, and wore a white muscle shirt with lightweight green pants. His arms were wrapped in proper bandages now. He looked pale, and had Coral supporting him slightly from one side. He looked to be light-headed from the blood he lost.

"So this is the lad who saved ya then?" Magnus half hollered in a thick Scottish accent, patting Coral on the back hard enough for her to pitch forward slightly with a grunt. Her helmet, slightly loosened, pitched forward enough for the man to see locks of light blue hair; an unusual color by his standards, but considering the world he was on…

"Yes, he is…" She growled curtly, staring daggers at the large man, who simply laughed it off. Jonas leaned back slightly; knowing the wrath of a woman if you piss one off enough. He would know; he still had a few bruises, though not to the extent Darryl had.

Guy was a human punching bag for how much of a poor flirt and a damn pervert he was. Considering he wasn't dead yet, the only thing he could imagine killing him would be dropping him in a monster infested forest or something with little to no ammo.

Reality came to bite him via the beefy man giving him a hardy slap on his back, nearly making his face meet the table.

"Names Magnus Ström. I'm one of the Huntsmen of North Waters." He announced loudly with a toothy smile. He turned slightly and pointed to his teammates. "This here's Midori Fujita, the one missing an arm is Arun Phan-

"Magnus…" Coral warned.

"-And you've already met the ever-pleasant Coral Fortier of course." He ended cheekily. Jonas was about ready to vacate the table when the huntress' face turned a deep purple while a fire burned in her eyes.

"Ehh… A pleasure to meet all of you." Jonas stuttered slightly. He shook it off and gave a smile in return. "I'm Jonas Everblue."

Midori took a few steps ahead of his team and bowed, speaking with a Chinese brogue. "My thanks for defending our people from the Grimm in our absence."

He waved him off. "Trust me when I say that you helped me by keeping that horde of Beowolves off my back, it allowed me to keep my eyes focused solely on the Beringel. What you did was no less important."

"…How did you know we were fighting Beowolves?" Magnus asked while staring at him intently. Jonas flexed his wings at him in response.

"When I first flew to the plaza I heard the sounds of explosions coming from you're RPG Warhammer, so I followed the sound since the plaza was pretty much empty. Found you guys taking on the Beowolves there. Made sure you guys were handling yourselves okay before I flew back to act as the final line of defense for the church. Glad I did, too."

"In either case, we appreciate the help you gave us; going to great lengths to help me, the children and our people." Arun praised him with a tired tone. "No words could properly express my gratitude."

"The thoughts appreciated, but… Should you be walking around right now?" Concern brushed Jonas's features.

"He's quite right, my boy; you don't look so good." Alvis scolded him, standing and pulling out a chair for him. "Take a seat before you fall over!"

"Doctor Malandra currently has me on painkillers, so I'm a little bit tipsy at the moment." He grinned lightly. The bald man let out a relieved sigh as he sat, leaning back on the seat with his eyes closed. His voice became melancholic as he spoke again. "I suspect I'll be sitting on the sidelines from now on though. Now that I've lost my arm, I can no longer work as a Huntsman."

"Don't talk like that." Coral replied quietly, trying to hide the strings of sadness that colored her voice. "We could always pool our Lien together to buy you an artificial limb."

The warriors hearing perked at the end of her sentence. That was a thing here?!

' _Oh, I GOTTA figure out how to make one!'_

"Lass is right brother. Can't imagine you being anything but a hunter." Magnus agreed. "Just doesn't seem like your thing."

"I don't have much choice." He replied sternly, staring them down with deep blue eyes. "You know as well as I do how much they cost. Our monthly salaries combined would not come anywhere close to covering the cost, and even if it did, I wouldn't allow you to do such a thing."

"But-!"

"Mind if I interrupt?" Jonas cut them off before they could really get into arguing. Present company stared at him with quizzical expressions; with exception to Coral, who gave him her undivided attention. "This may not be as much of a problem as you think."

"How so, Jonas?" The mayor asked him in confusion. "Unless you are able to make prosthetics yourself, I cannot see a way to easily solve this conundrum."

"Oh no! I wish I knew honestly, cause that sounds _awesome_." Jonas chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I intend on simply growing the arm back."

The table went quiet. Everyone present was staring at him with wide eyes. Even the surrounding tables that had been listening in on their conversation went silent; all of which were gawking at him.

"A… A-are you serious?!" Lily popped up between him and Arun shouting. Everyone at the table jumped at her sudden appearance. Looking around revealed Troy, Vermillion, and Iris following behind them; all of which were staring at him slack-jawed.

"Yeah, pretty much." He nodded mutely. Seriously, where the hell was everyone popping up from?!

"THAT'S SO COOL!" She yelled, hopping up and down in place.

"How do you intend on doing that, though?" Troy asked, eyeing him warily. "Some demonic looking ritual? Will he have to give up his _soul_ for his arm?!"

"Not really." He replied lazily, pulling off his Charm from his wrist. "All he really needs is this."

"That thing?" Coral muttered, staring at it intensely. "I thought it was a fashion accessory…"

"Well, it can double as that, but there's a little more to it than looks." Jonas explained poorly. "Though I will do this first."

Sitting up straight in his chair, his free hand hovered over the item as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. To the astonishment of the surrounding group of people, a thick corona of blue surrounded his body, and slowly made its way towards the trinket from both of his hands; turning purple and white from each hand respectively. He opened his eyes, and the people who could see them gasped, as they had turned blue and white again.

" _ **Thou shall become my tether...**_

 _ **And thou shall become my sight...**_

 _ **My guide within the shadows…**_

 _ **To lead me to the light.**_ "

He spoke in another language, his voice echoing loudly. The building crowd stood in silent awe at the spectacle; watching as light purple runic scrawl slowly etched itself on the inside of the bracelet. Even those in the kitchen had come to watch.

Eventually, the light faded from his body, and his eyes returned to their normal hue. Only when everything returned to normal did he see the large audience he accumulated. He smiled sheepishly. Maybe he should have done this in private?

"What. The heck. Was _that_?" Coral asked, emphasizing her words.

Jonas looked towards her in concern. They didn't know magic; that much he understood, but surely there must have been tomes explaining the language he spoke just now!

"Do you mean the magic that was running from my body to the trinket, or the different language I was speaking?"

" _Both_!" She shouted in reply, slamming her hands down on the table. "You keep calling yourself a magician, but magic is nothing more than a _fairytale_! And I've never even _heard_ of a dialect like that before in my life!"

Though he didn't show it, the man mentally quailed; going from worried and into a slight panic at this information.

Bad enough that magic was considered a story, but he figured that he at least might be able to prove that it existed through one of the books that they might have had; excluding story books anyway. Hell, he had even hoped that someone might have read it and recognized the runes. But if they don't know _anything…_

This is bad.

Really, _really_ bad.

"Magic _is_ real, Coral. You saw me use it after all."

"For all I knew, that was your semblance!" Coral replied curtly.

…Wait, what?

"…Semblance?" He questioned. "What do you mean?"

"W-wait, seriously?" she stuttered, eyes wide in exasperation. "You really don't know what a semblance is?"

"…For me semblance just refers to something similar by my textbook definition."

Her eye twitched as she stared at him; looking as if she were staring at a toddler who asked what certain buttons on the remote did, only to finally let out a sigh.

"I don't know what to make of all this, anymore." She replied in a monotonous tone, cupping her face in her hands and slumping forward.

"I _did_ tell you I wasn't from around here." He apologized wryly, getting a small grunt in response.

"Are you referring to this country by chance?" Alvis cut in, finally freeing himself from his shock.

"From this _world_ apparently." Coral stated bluntly. A glass shattered from the revelation; silence again spreading throughout the room.

"How…?" The old man petered off. Jonas grinned, spreading his tendrils.

"Did the glowing tentacle wings not give me away?" He snickered. This was just too hilarious. It probably wasn't the time for it, but their reactions made it hard to ignore.

"Were getting off track here." Coral snapped at both of them, letting out a tired sigh at the sight of them sweating. "I'm assuming from your lack of knowledge on semblances that you don't know what Aura is either?"

"Probably not by your definition, no."

"Is it weird that I find it mind-boggling that were even talking about this?" Troy half whispered to Lily. A light smack on the back of his head from Iris and a well-placed glare shut him up quickly enough.

"Thank you Iris." She grumbled, sending her an appreciative glance before looking back at him. "Look, for us, Aura is considered the 'Power of the Soul'. When one has theirs unlocked, it protects one from harm, and can heal most wounds one can accrue in battle. They also enhance the strength and speed; though to what degree is dependent on the person in particular, and how skilled they are at wielding their aura. It's also what's used to activate Dust- the crystals you saw me using when we were fighting the Death Stalker.

Getting a small nod of understanding from Jonas, she continued. "When their Aura is unlocked, they also gain a special ability; commonly referred to as a Semblance. It differs from person to person; but the more common ones are supernatural strength, increased speed or durability, to being able to levitate objects at will. There's no way of actually figuring out what it is other than coming across it by accident though. Some people don't figure out their special ability until far later on, and other find out almost instantly."

"Interesting…" He said under his breath. "Can everyone unlock their Aura? Including myself?"

"You should be able to." She nodded. "You _may_ be an alien, but you're still a living being just like the rest of us. All you need is the training and willpower to have it manifest. Of course, you could have someone who's well trained in Aura to unlock it, but understand that having someone do that is… rather intimate." Coral petered off with a light blush.

"Ahh, I got ya." He smiled. Looking around, he found over a dozen stares all focused on him. A small laugh passed his lips as he looked back at them. "I get the feeling the ever-growing audience want me to explain magic."

A 'Damn right!' sounded from the back of the room, making most present laugh.

"To put things into perspective then…" He started, his face taking on a serious visage. "If Aura is considered the 'Power of the Soul', then magic is best considered the 'Power of the World'."

"Really?" Vermillion quietly asked. Turning to look, he found her standing a couple feet away from him; right next to Lily.

"Indeed." He nodded with a small smile while ruffling her hair lightly. "Most habitable worlds are considered 'Nexus Worlds' due to them being within close proximity to 'Nexus Points'. It's the very foundation from which most life comes from; or, at the very least, helps it along. It's not always the case mind you, but it's the most common factor in habitable worlds in the universe. "

"…Is your world the same then?" Coral inquired hesitantly.

"Possibly. I wouldn't really know since I was pulled from my home-world when I was young. Still don't know who or what did that, either." Jonas shrugged in response. He ignored the sympathetic looks and kept going. "The world I hail from is called 'Earth'. We came about from a series of events that had a one in seven hundred _quintillion_ chance of actually occurring that brought life to our world, and gave it the necessary ingredients to help it flourish. As far as I know we have no such thing; though it's just as easily possible that we forgot how to use it. I can't say for sure until I'm able to return home someday."

"Anyway, we've gotten off track. It's from these points that one is able to use magic; though magic within itself is so much more." Snapping his fingers, eight runic circles with varying colors spawned behind him; each baring a different symbol. He smirked at the hushed whispers he heard. "The eight you see here are the primary forms of magic: Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Water, Arcane, Light, and Darkness. There's also innumerable others that exist by combining two or more of the primary magic's, but I won't bother listing those right now."

"Astounding…" Alvis whispered as the glyphs faded. The huntsmen nodded in agreement.

"If I may?" Midori looked for confirmation. Jonas nodded for him to continue. "From what Coral told us, you are able to pull things out of an invisible space at will. Is this another form of magic?"

"In all honesty, I don't believe so." He replied, rubbing his chin. "It still works even if I exhaust my magic."

"What're ya able to carry in it?" Magnus asked.

"Perceivably anything." He smirked. "I'm a veritable walking arsenal."

"What'cha got?" Magnus grinned.

"Secret."

" _Aww~_ , don't be like that lad!"

"Enough of that, Magnus." Alvis admonished before bringing his attention back to the apparent alien in the room. "So how do you know if we have one of these 'Nexus Points' dear boy?"

"If you didn't, my mana pool wouldn't have recharged after I fought the Death Stalker."

"Can you clarify?" He petitioned. "I'm afraid were missing vital information."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to stop here for the time being and get a bite to eat." Jonas replied, getting whines and groans from his audience who slowly dispersed after that announcement. He held out the bracelet to Arun. "In the meantime put this on."

"…What is it?"

"It's known as the 'Charm of Myths'; an item I created from the 'Band of Regeneration' and a 'Philosopher's Stone'. It can regrow organs and limbs."

"And you're sure it works?" Coral questioned.

"Considering it grew back my half-melted stomach, I'd think so."

"Wait, WHAT!?"

A few men and women spewed the contents of their drinks onto their tables or other people. Several others fell to the floor in surprise to his bluntness. His group stared at him with hanging jaws and sweaty faces; daring not to believe him.

"…Wanna see?" Jonas winked playfully, lifting up the edge of his jacket, armor and shirt and revealing a patch of bone white skin that stood out next to tanned, maimed skin.

"Oh my god." She gurgled, turning green. "How the hell did you melt half you're stomach?!"

"Story for another time." He replied, much to her frustration. "Point is it works and you should use it if you want your arm back."

Arun grabbed it in his hand, staring at the trinket.

"…What was that chant for, by chance?" He asked.

"That was just me placing a form of sensory magic on it." Jonas stated. "Wherever it is, I'll know."

"I see…" He muttered. After several seconds of quiet contemplation he looked at the magician. "Should I do anything else beforehand?"

Jonas looked upward in thought for a couple moments. "Well… You might want to get yourself hooked up to a blood bag. And you can't really wear bandages over the wound as it regenerates, so you'll probably bleed a bit; though the trinket should deal with that easily enough. To stymie any possible infections, I'd recommend keeping your arm in a cylinder of water laced with a small amount of alcohol to keep it clean while it does its thing."

"Alright."

"And for the love of god, try not to move too much while it regenerates. It'll take longer if you do."

"Duly noted." The bald man chuckled, ambling to his feet. Coral stood close by in case he lost his footing.

"I'll make sure he follows your directions." She said plainly. "Just in case the drugs are affecting his memory."

"I'm not that bad Coral." He groused.

"I'll be the judge of that." The cent-garde expressed bluntly, walking off with him.

Watching them exit the building, he noticed that the Iris and the children had vanished. Did she take decide to move the children when he started talking about regenerating limbs and organs?

He and the mayor sat at the table in silence. Alvis looked to be digesting all the information he was given, his head bowed in thought. Maybe he overloaded him with what he said? Should he have stopped sooner?

A few minutes passed before his food finally got to his table. A large plate of spaghetti sat in front of him; draped in over half a dozen meatballs, and absolutely covered in cheese. But what grabbed his attention was his drink. He grabbed it with shaking hands, pulling it close to him and simply sat there in awe; on the brink of breaking into tears.

It was beautiful. Held in a stein glass was litre and a half of his long lost, favorite carbonated drink. That beautiful purple shade, and the smell that called to him like a siren, reminding him of days long gone; promising him that everything would be okay.

Wordlessly, he lifted the glassware to his mouth…

…And all was right with the world.

"Jonas, are you alright?" The distant voice of the mayor brought him out of his reverie, and suddenly he was back in the Inn.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied.

"But… You're crying, my boy."

Jonas blinked, wiping one of his eyes, and finding that he indeed had tears running down his cheeks. He chuckled wryly.

"Don't mind it." The man smiled. "Just… reminded myself of better days I suppose."

"I see." He nodded, his eyes gleaming in understanding.

Brought back to reality, he dug into his food, and found that the cooks were good in their field of choice. Often, when he hunkered down in other towns, the food he was served was rather chewy. Maybe they weren't as advanced technologically as his world was, but with the aid of magic, it should have helped make better cuisine for themselves as well as travelers.

This food, on the other hand, was incredibly well made. They knew not to add too much of any of the ingredients; keeping it pleasing on most people's palates. It wasn't as good as the food he made personally – He had to have _some_ pride in his cooking! – But their confections were nothing to sneeze at.

In no time at all he devoured his plate, letting out a gratified hum.

"Good food, I take?" Alvis chuckled.

"Definitely."

"Jolly good then! It's always a delight to see a foreigner enjoy our humble little town's cuisine!"

"Frankly, I'm amazed this town isn't popular for its food." Jonas stated, giving his waitress a wink when she came to grab his empty dish, and snickered when her cheeks flushed. Turning to look towards the old man, Alvis was surprised to find the young man giving him a semi-serious stare. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Very well." Alvis nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"From what I understand, Grimm appear when there's a large amount of negative emotions in an area. Is that correct?"

"Indeed. The stronger the negativity the more of them in the area that will likely sense it."

"If that's the case, then what happened to cause such a large amount of them to come here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. The old man hesitated for a couple seconds before letting out a deep sigh.

"How to explain…" He trailed off, thinking deeply. "Something you have to understand Jonas, is that not all is right with the world."

"In what regard?"

"Regarding equal rights between Humans and Faunus." He answered sadly. "Despite them almost always being with us, some Humans still discriminate; treating them as wild animals that need to be tamed, or _exploit_ them for their own benefit. In my opinion, it's because of these practices that the Faunus people do not have equal rights; for continued use as cheap labor. It's also because of this that organizations like 'The White Fang' exist."

"The White Fang?"

"Another time, dear boy. What's important is that the actions of Humankind in general have caused some of the conflicts we see today; most of which befall the Faunus. It's also the cause of those Grimm appearing."

' _Thought as much.'_ He contemplated crossly. "Does it have something to do with their treatment?"

The mayor slumped slightly in his seat, sighing and wearily rubbing his eyes.

"…Our fair town is one of many expansion efforts made by our kingdom, in order to lessen the ever-growing population in our main cities. They base them in areas that are safe enough to inhabit, but there is always an element of risk-"

"Due to the Grimm, right?" Jonas guessed.

"Quite right, yes." He nodded. "We receive Lien – that is our currency in case you haven't been told – on a monthly basis from the kingdom, along with supplies and other materials we need in order to live and combat the Grimm. We still work mind you, just in a capacity that helps make the land become more fertile and livable, thus making the kingdom send more people. We ourselves have expanded once already, though not as much as others would due to being a frontier town."

"Those who don't work within the village often find jobs working in the dust mines. Often, whenever an area with a high dust count is found, villages are set up close by; both to try and expand their influence, and to aid in its operations. However…" Alvis sighed, looking at him. "Most of these mines are owned by the Schnee Dust Company."

"…I take it by your tone of voice that they aren't looked upon favorably here." He stated

"No, they aren't." A new voice chimed in harshly. Coral walked up behind him, with Midori following along. Both took the remaining seats. She looked at Jonas with a hint of worry. "Is that charm supposed to make his stump hurt?"

"Sweetie, its growing new muscles, bones, veins, and most importantly _nerves_ ; there really isn't a way around that." The man deadpanned. Pink dusted her cheeks in response, having the grace to look embarrassed.

"What will he need to do afterwards?"

"His arm from the new flesh down needs to be exercised." Jonas replied. "It'll essentially have the strength of a newborn, so he needs to get it in shape; even more so considering his profession."

"Magnus has a weight set he can use; it will be no problem."

"Good." He said, relieved, before looking back at her. "Magnus stayed behind to give him company?"

"Just in case something goes wrong." She clarified. "We don't know you enough to figure out if you're telling the truth, so he's on standby if that trinket does anything it shouldn't."

"Understandable." He affirmed. "Now, what exactly did this group do to get such a bad reputation?"

"They're _highly_ questionable treatment of their labor forces." She spat in disgust, leaning on the table with her hand cupping her chin. "Because Faunus aren't given the same civil rights like Humans have, they often work long grueling hours in questionable conditions for little pay. It's why they're often picked for such roles."

"…Alvis said this shared a relation to the Grimm invading." Jonas voiced. He had a good idea of what happened, but he didn't want to believe it.

"…The manager of one of the mines close by is, for all intents and purposes, considered more related to a Grimm than a Human with his treatment of his miners." Midori finally broke into the conversation. "He has no problem making his employees work several hours of overtime in horrid working conditions to meet his quota. More than one Faunus there has ended up in the medical center or, more often then we like to admit, sent home with limbs missing."

…

His clenched hand, hidden under the table shook as his mind registered what she was saying.

The fact that _any_ living being is forced into such situations was abhorrent to him. His people went through it back in the day, and a great many lives were lost due to overexertion from just trying to earn a good paycheck for their families. It was why the minimum wage laws were introduced; in order to avoid other such incidents.

"How long have they been treated like this, exactly?" He asked quietly, grabbing his drink to help soothe his nerves. Coral flinched, and Midori's eyes twitched from how sharp his voice was.

"…Since long ago, before recorded history." Alvis lamented. "Back then, they were considered no different from the Grimm, and were either chased out of villages or hunted down and killed."

"They aren't treated like that anymore." Coral added hastily. "Often, all they face is what we talked about and very rarely kidnapped and thrown into the Mistralian Black Market to work as slaves for nobles."

His steins handle started to crack in his grip, though he didn't notice. Jonas spoke, voice sounding hollow, his eyes tightly closed.

"I'm assuming with their daily treatment that such a thing wasn't the cause of the Grimm invasion you've just suffered from. If that _is_ the case, then what caused such turmoil that brought a horde so large?"

"A couple dozen workers, some of which were from North Waters, were mining down one of the older shafts. It… it collapsed due to the wooden support beams having rotted from being there so long without being replaced." Coral choked.

' _And if there was such an invasion…_ oh god _.'_

Jonas felt his blood freeze. He didn't have to guess if his eyes had shifted again under his eyelids.

"He left them there." He said, more of a statement than a question.

"…Yes." The mayor quietly answered.

 _*Cr-Cr-Cr-Crunch!*_

Alvis jumped in his seat, while Coral stared at him with tear-filled eyes and no small amount of fear; the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Even the more wizened goers of the Inn stopped dead, staring directly at him as their instincts sent out danger signals.

A thin, blue corona surrounded his body as he trembled, holding the former handle of his mug in his fist; most of it now crushed into glass powder. His hair and any part of his coat-tails that weren't held down flew gently in a non-existent breeze.

He hadn't felt this way in a _long_ time. Ever since the warrior realized its existence, he bottled it up inside himself. The last thing he wanted was to lash out and injure, or god forbid kill someone accidentally. That didn't make it any less difficult to ignore though. It was always there, running under the surface.

How long had it been since he felt this unyielding rage?

The screeching of chairs brought his mind back to reality. He took several deep breaths. With each exhale the glow lessened, before it eventually faded after the final breath, and his hair and jacket settled. His hand unclenched, letting the powder fall to the table like sand. Jonas opened his eyes only when he was sure he got himself under control.

His eyes registered how both the hunters of the table jumped out of their chairs, standing close to the distraught mayor in case he needed to be shielded from a possible attack. Jonas belatedly noticed how conversations at other tables had died down in response; confusion etched in their faces.

"Apologies for that, I usually don't let my anger control myself like it did just now." He expressed with a drained smile. "Hearing about their horrid treatment set me off I suppose."

Small nods came in response after several moments. Eventually, both Midori and Coral slowly returned to their seats.

"If you don't mind my asking though, why _did_ he leave them there? Wouldn't it have been more beneficial for him to keep them alive?"

"One would think, but from what I heard from one of our own, it was due to the old section of the mine having a significantly lower count of dust crystals per square foot." Coral grumbled.

' _Does he have a personal end goal in getting rid of them?'_ He thought before shaking his head. _'Doesn't seem like it. What he's done is no doubt cruel, but considering the treatment they go through on a daily basis something like this wasn't too far-fetched; unusual, sure, but not all that strange. And it wasn't just happening here if what they said was true, so it doesn't sound like corruption at any one digging site, nor did it seem to end at middle management if it was_ this _out of control. It looks like it goes all the way to the top.'_

"Jonas my boy, are you still there?" Alvis called out in concern.

"Yes, apologies, just putting the pieces together here." He replied quickly. A small idea was forming in his mind. "Can you tell me who owns the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Oh! Um… that would be Jacques Schnee." The mayor hesitated for a second. "He is the president and CEO."

"And who runs this mining operation where the incident took place?"

"That would be Edrick Blaec."

"Jonas… What are you planning?" Midori asked, eyeing him worriedly.

"Nothing _too_ crazy, I assure you." He grinned in response.

"So you're not planning on killing anyone?" Coral questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Not really. Doing so wouldn't solve the problem, not to mention it would make me the bad guy. No, what I have planned is _much_ worse."

"…Which is?"

"Allow me to answer that with another question." Jonas gave a toothy smile. Coral found it frightening with the gears turning in his head. "What's the state of technology for this world?"

"Well… we have scrolls to communicate over long distances,-" Oh, so that's what they are! "-television, and computers, so I'd say were pretty far along. We tried going into space once, but dust doesn't work outside our atmosphere."

"Do you have cameras?"

"Yes, we have them; both in scrolls, and used for security and the like."

" _Perfect_." His smile grew, looking menacing to the rest of the table. Coral finally caught on to what he was planning.

"No, Jonas, this isn't ' _Perfect_ '; what you're planning is dangerous!" She yelled. "The Grimm are one thing, but the people down there are something else entirely! Most of the guards are brutal and borderline sadistic!"

"Then it's a good thing I have more than one trick up my sleeve." He smirked. "Have a few spells that could get me around the compound in a jiffy, not to mention a potion that's perfect for sneaking."

"You're intending on breaking into the mining complex." Alvis declared, face paling.

"Mostly their administrative building." He shrugged. "All I intend on doing is getting some dirt on them from their cameras, and seeing the background of the manager and security guards. I imagine that if I can find enough dirt that spreads through the management and security of the mining op then I can hold it against Jacques, though I want to look through their international database and add to it if I can."

"You're insane!" Coral shouted.

"I'm not going on a massacre in revenge love. If I do it right I can be in and out without being noticed. And on the remote chance I do get spotted somewhere along the line then I can simply knock them out with a sleep spell and hide them in a janitor's closet or something."

Coral sputtered, trying and failing to come up with anything that could sway him from going. It was only when she noticed the steely look in his eyes that he wouldn't move on this. He was going through with it with or without their help.

She sighed a long sigh and stood from the table, walking towards him.

"What are yo-"

"Just shut up for a second." She snapped, placing her hands on his cheek and chest. "If you're doing this, then I'd rather you survive it long enough to get back here and get destroyed by me afterwards."

"…Say what now?"

"I'm unlocking your Aura." Jonas' eyes widened, not expecting her acting this way.

"Uh… D-didn't you say unlocking ones Aura was something intimate?" He mentally swore at himself for stuttering. Coral let out a small nod, cheeks flushing.

"Yes, now shut up." She growled quietly. After a few deep breaths she closed her eyes, and her pink aura surrounded her body.

" _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality._

 _Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all._

 _Infinite in distance and unbound by death,_

 _I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."_

Thinking back on it, those words sounded like a beautiful poem of reincarnation.

Too bad he felt like he got socked in the stomach by a Devourer.

Cyan lighting started to arc around his body, making Coral flinch back before she got electrocuted. All conversations in the room stopped at the spectacle; the only sound remaining being the electricity cracking every now and then. Jonas cradled his belly, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Back up." He grunted in pain. "Back up _NOW_."

The tables quickly vacated as people either ran for the door, or got as far away from him as possible. What felt like an inferno built up in his stomach as the intervals between lightning cracks grew shorter. His blue corona came back in full force, slowly growing larger until a cyan layer of equal size appeared underneath it. The chair he sat on splintered into pieces, and the table abruptly flew away from him. He collapsed to the floor in a heap, his body screaming in agony. One of his hands clawed at the wooden floor, leaving deep gashes.

Then his vision went white.

* * *

 **[** **ERROR** **]**

 **[** **SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED** **]**

 **[** **RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC** **]**

 **[** **SCANNING…** **]**

 **[** **0%** **]**

 **[** **13%** **]**

 **[** **39%** **]**

 **[** **72%** **]**

 **[** **SCAN COMPLETE** **]**

 **[** **ALERT** **]**

 **[** **NEW SUB-SYSTEM DETECTED** **]**

 **[** **COMPILING NEW DATA…** **]**

 **[** **0%** **]**

 **[** **15%** **]**

 **[** **38%** **]**

 **[** **64%** **]**

 **[** **89%** **]**

 **[** **COMPILING COMPLETE** **]**

 **[** **TESTING SUB-SYSTEM** **]**

 **[** **TESTING…** **]**

 **[** **TEST COMPLETE** **]**

 **[** **NO ERRORS DETECTED** **]**

 **[** **INITIATING SUB-SYSTEM** **]**

 **[** **SUB-SYSTEM INITIATED** **]**

 **[** **REBOOTING…** **]**

* * *

' _That's never happened before.'_ He growled inwardly. His ears rang as his vision came back to him at a snail's pace. The second time in less than twenty-four hours he ended up on the ground writhing in pain. He'd be more frightened if this wasn't as common of an occurrence for him.

If someone told him he had to do this again to gain more power, he'd kindly smack them in the jaw with the flat of Night's Edge and politely tell them to fuck off.

"-ue! Everblue, can you hear me?!" He heard Corals voice shouting at him. Looking towards her, he was surprised to find tears in her eyes, but his thoughts on that matter were dashed by the charred circle he and Coral were in the center of.

"Yeah, give me a minute." Jonas rasped, slowly turning over and pushing himself onto his knees; hands propping himself up. Coral stood next to him, a hand firmly holding his shoulder. "Okay, that was _really_ unpleasant."

"I-it wasn't supposed to do that. Unlocking your aura makes you feel stronger, not whatever the hell that was!" She freaked out, making him look at her in slight befuddlement. She only just met him today, and already she worried about him to this degree. It was strange… but rather sweet.

"Easy love, I'm fine now." He said gently with a genuine smile, patting her hand in attempts to console her. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Slowly, he made his way back onto his feet. Taking a few deep ragged breaths until his breathing slowly evened out. Carefully at first, he felt around his body. Jonas did feel pretty good, all things considered. Even the aches from his arms had abated, much to his shock. He'd have to check to see if the bruising had faded, but all in all he felt as if he had slept uninterrupted for two days and had a nice soothing bath and massage. Not that he knew what a massage felt like anyway.

"Huh… even got rid of the bruises I had." He mumbled.

Surprised with what he found, he looked in the corner of his vison, and gawked.

 **Aura:**

 **476/500**

 **Health:**

 **500/500**

 **Mana:**

 **200/200**

Jonas stood there, blinking owlishly.

"Jonas?" Coral called, her nervous voice betraying the mask she put up. He jumped slightly and sighed, realizing he had stared into space again.

"Sorry about that, it's another special ability of mine." He answered calmly. "It lets me see my status – by which I mean my health and mana – in the form of numbers."

"…Wait, really?" She responded blankly.

"Yup. It kinda short-circuited it when you introduced Aura into my body." Jonas explained. Coral winced behind him. "It had to restart itself in order to properly adapt to the new power. I'm… actually better than I felt earlier."

"How do you mean?" She raised a lithe eyebrow.

"Well, when I woke up earlier I had bruises all across my arms and back from my fight with the Beringel, so I had a pretty decent ache going on; though I'm used to something like that after everything else I dealt with. Now though, all those aches and pains are pretty much gone." He turned to look at her. "What happened exactly?"

"W-well, when you told us to back off a blue aura started to surround you're body."

"Ahh, that was just my mana causing a physical manifestation. Nothing new there." He waved off.

"Is it normal for you to explode in a ball of blue flames?" She deadpanned

"…No." He sighed. "Anything else unusual?"

"Well, when your mana popped up it was blue, but it developed a second color."

' _Okay, that's new.'_ He thought plainly. "Aura can have a physical manifestation as well, can't it?"

"Yes. I assumed as much myself." She nodded, a hand cupping her chin. "It seems likely that your Aura appeared along with your mana due to the immense pain you were suffering from; which is strange since it _shouldn't_ have hurt."

"I feel better now if it's any consolation, not to mention that Aura popped up in my status. Don't know if it's me though, but it seems unusually large."

He scratched at his cheek while thinking. Having an idea, he turned to look at Coral. Maybe that glitched space where her Aura should be is fixed?

{Huntress}

 **[** **Coral Fortier** **]**

 **Aura:**

 **197/210**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

"Oh good, that is working now." He grinned.

"What's working?"

"Well, I just checked your status. Your Aura, as well as everyone else who has theirs unlocked, had nothing more than a jumble of text where it should have been. Now that I have my own it seemed to have corrected itself."

"Is that right?" She muttered with interest. "Do you know what my maximum aura is?"

"Two hundred and ten." Coral gave a smug smile.

"Not too bad."

"Don't get _too_ into yourself." He smirked wryly. "Mine's five hundred."

"…That's just not fair!" She whined, pouting. "Why's yours so large!?"

"When you fight monsters from another world, then you can complain."

He laughed when she stuck her tongue out in a childish display. Good to know farting around a bit calmed her. Looking around, he frowned when he noticed everyone had left; probably evacuating when he was about to explode.

"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Concern laced his tone. A small smile formed on her lips, and she shook her head.

"Everyone's fine. Those who couldn't vacate the building either hid in the kitchen or second floor."

A moment after he heard her response he visibly deflated. Another moment passed, and he thought his ears were betraying him.

"…Did you just giggle?" He stared at her with slight shock. Her face flushed red, and she started to sputter refusals much to his amusement. "Sweetie, that was _adorable_."

"Oh shut up." She replied quietly, flustered. She looked away from him and shouted. "It's safe to come out now!"

Only after half a minute did people flutter from various openings. Midori and the mayor had taken the lead, returning to the bar area first. Alvis looked him up and down for any changes, and was satisfied when he found none.

"Good to know you're alright dear boy!" He cheered. "For a moment, I had thought we lost you!"

"You and me both." He grinned, and looked toward Midori. "You doing alright? You were pretty close when my powers flipped out."

"It is fine; I was not harmed." He smiled gently, though his expression turned sheepish as he looked downward. "Though I fear more for what the workers of the establishment will do to you."

He paled slightly, and started to sweat as he turned towards the waitress that had served him. She caught sight of him looking at her, and grinned evilly; mouthing 'Are you going to pay for this' to him.

"…I'm suddenly glad I can repair the damage easily enough."

His three compatriots chuckled in response to that.

* * *

 **Time for a little announcement.**

 **I've started a poll for how long it should take him to get to vale.  
Was never a question of if, only when.**

 **Link: Poll is over!**

 **Voting ends in a week!**

 **NOTE: I might have to break it if it means fleshing out the story.**

 **This should get interesting.**

 **Stay Sober!**


	6. Modern Myth

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Modern Myth**

* * *

 _ **Several Months Later**_

* * *

The sounds of clockwork that echoed around the office often soothed his mind. Whether it came from a large mound of paperwork he dealt with to keep beacon academy running, receiving word of one of his hunters being killed in action, or dealing with the increasing dubiousness of the vale council, the sounds of cog work turning from past his glass ceiling singing their never changing harmony worked the stress from his nerves over time.

That and the multiple cups of his frankly _excellent_ coffee brand he has in a day.

What could he say? Work like his could be rather stressful on a person.

He was grateful he had a hidden bathroom in his office, or all the trips to the bathroom would've shattered the image of his _'Mysterious and Intimidating Headmaster'_ persona almost instantly. It was one of the only advantages he had on the council, since they truly didn't know him outside of updates on the academy, its students, and any and all huntsmen who called the kingdom of vale home.

No amount of coffee or sounds of turning gears would aid him today however.

Ozpin sighed as he leaned back in his seat, staring into a steaming hot cup of coffee held in his hands despite his feelings. Despite the years of peace the world was experiencing there was still plenty of dark elements both old and new that roamed remnant.

"Is everything alright Ozpin?" He snapped out of his musings at the sound of the feminine voice coming from his right, turning and finding himself staring at piercing green eyes hidden behind ovoid glasses.

"I'm quite alright Glynda." He replied after a few seconds of silence, taking a small sip of his beverage. "Events have given me cause to be concerned lately."

"You're referring to the maidens, correct?" She asked.

"For the most part yes." He admitted. "The criminal element has never gotten this close to our charges, assisted or otherwise. And now, just over a month and a half ago we've had to relocate one of our charges from the appearance of a well-known group of thugs. On top of that I've had to pull Qrow from his current mission, of whom we've gotten more information on just earlier today, in order to check on and warn the other of possible attacks."

"Oh dear…" Glynda muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What happened this time?"

"From what I understand, our most recent intel suggests an incident occurred within the town of Aroma." He began, taking a quick sip of coffee in between. "Apparently trees and various plants were growing at an abnormal rate throughout a period of a couple of weeks throughout the town, sometimes even appearing growing out of thin air in seconds on alleys and heavily populated streets. We haven't been told what exactly _caused_ it, but from what I managed to gleam our person of interest came through and fixed the problem before going on their merry way again. And, unfortunately for us, the information seems to have been held back again for a quite some time."

" _Again_?" She sighed exasperatedly. "Either they're being strong-armed into silence or the man is truly that influential."

"Indeed." He nodded in agreement. "Speaking of, did you manage to put together a timeline of where they've been?"

She shrugged. "I did what I could with what we had on hand. Considering we've been repeatedly getting information late its more than likely were missing some particulars."

"I asked assuming as much." Ozpin nodded again. "Show me what we have."

With a nod, she walked over to his desk, placing her scroll in a slot off to Ozpin's right. After several seconds multiple files appeared via hologram, floating in front of the headmaster. A couple of moments of sifting through the files later, he was able to locate one in particular labelled ' _5th_ '.

Selecting it revealed two windows. One showed a map of the kingdom of Vale, with the capital bearing a castle, while the towns beyond had the shape of a house, each of them varying in size and the amount of buildings depending on its population. Most of them were highlighted green, with a few glowing an angry red, along with a single digit ranging from zero to two floating over them. Roads between occupied land were given a yellow color, with certain roads lit up red from attacks by Grimm, Bandits, or the White Fang. The second window listed multiple files, almost all of which were the names of towns labelled with a number. His eyes roved to the top.

 _(Start)  
0  
North Waters_

Selecting it expanded the size of the town in question, highlighting it dark blue, and a host of information about the area came scrolling down in another window along with a multitude of pictures; many of which showing most of the damage done to the town. What greatly surprised him was the timestamps. Each of the areas had a before and after picture, showing the partially destroyed roads and buildings were all repaired in the same day. But what stood out more than that were two things in particular.

The first was a series of pictures taken over the course of a week. The shots depicted the progress of a wall being built, ending in a fifty foot high wall of rock. Not cobblestone or bricks, but a single mass of ten foot thick solid rock that seemingly spanned an area three times the size of the town itself, along with four large operable gates in all the cardinal directions.

' _How someone can manage to make walls and gates as fine as that in a week is beyond the realm of rational thought.'_ He thought with curiosity and a small amount of apprehension.

The next bit of information threw his mind through a loop from how inconceivable it was when he first read it. A series of photos showing a then stumped arm of one of the hunters located in the area, one Arun Phan. The first of the pictures showed a red bracelet with a hexagonal red gem encrusted in its middle. The hunter in charge of the towns security stressed the name of the artifact was called the 'Charm of Myths', and that it was able to regenerate the limb; albeit to a severely malnourished state from the point of the stump down.

Several pictures were taken every five minutes from when the trinket was placed on his wrist, giving a rather thorough catalogue of his growing limb. It was a rather disturbing sight to a degree, what with the bones and muscles growing in first before the skin covered over them. But nonetheless the photos proved to be the truth, especially since he had sent Qrow down who confirmed the statement and pictures himself, much to the surprise of everyone in the order.

Himself included, and that was saying a great deal.

"I still find that hard to believe." Glynda remarked. Her eyes were distant in thought, much like himself. "How someone could manage to bring back one's limbs is astounding. But I can't help but wonder if they use such items for a darker purpose."

"Don't let your mind run away with you." Ozpin chided with no small amount of kindness. "Fact often shows the truth about someone rather than letting our imaginations run wild on every possibility."

"Weren't you the one who told me to think more openly?" She smiled lightly in response, getting a small smile from him in return.

"Yes. Such is our line of work." He chuckled quietly. "Imagination has saved more than one hunter on the field. Using it to such an extreme however can lead to our own detriment. It can make us paranoid. Cloud our reason and make us blind to the truth in front of us."

"I suppose your right…"

"I know I am." Ozpin said, highlighting all of the roads. "Take these for instance. Why would they bother to aid in the caravans or trains when they passed by? Why bother healing their wounds instead of leaving them be afterwards? Why stand out unnecessarily? And-" He selected all of the towns that were glowing red. "-We know they ask the hunters in these towns to keep any information about them delayed, but why? If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want any information about me spreading unless-"

"-Unless they wanted it to spread long after they were gone." Glynda said, realization dawning.

"Much the same thought that I have on the matter. They wait until they're long gone before giving us any Intel on them. No hunter worth their salt would willingly hide information, even temporarily, unless they implicitly trusted the individual."

"And after meeting them for the first time no less." She replied with furrowed brows. "They would have to have quite an effect to manage something like that with the more experienced hunters."

"Indeed." Ozpin concluded, his face returning to its well-known neutral expression. "Some of these reports were made by such individuals, and I find it unlikely they wouldn't leave an encoded message to warn us about them earlier on if they hadn't had such a degree of faith in them."

"A small amount of relief at least…" Her shoulders slumped just slightly. "But that doesn't answer _why_ they wanted this in the first place."

"Of that I'm not too certain. Not until we know them personally."

"Didn't you just tell me not to let my mind run away with me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. However, my position requires that I take into consideration every possibility while maintaining a neutral stance, though I take no joy in it. It is why I had Qrow following these events."

Ozpin stood, turning around to look out the window that gave one of the best views of beacon's grounds.

"For now, all we can do is wait and see how things turn out."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

* * *

"Thanks for the grub!" He waved over his back to the owner of the stall, holding a sturdy paper bag in one arm filled to the brim with various kinds of baked goods. Getting a small smile and wave from him in return, he ran at a small jog towards the edge of town while discreetly putting the goods into his inventory.

Didn't need another incident like that town a couple months back. What was it called? Aroma?

' _Seriously, I know they have no clue about magic and had nary an idea about the dryad girl in their hometown, but why in the hell did they think I was possessed by a demon?!'_ He griped.

Refocusing on his surroundings he found himself walking among the few buildings along the edge just before the gate. Eventually Jonas stood in front of a small yet eccentric two-floor baby blue building with a large white snowflake emblazoned above the door.

Walking inside revealed a rather spacious room. Affixed to the left walls were long tubes filled with dust powders. Aisles were filled with vials, canisters, ammo and thin cardboard boxes of various sizes. Each were labelled with a small circle of differing colors and, as he learned when he last came here, were meant to help make different forms of Dust ammunition.

" _One couldn't simply use the same bullet casing for every kind of dust. Each one is too different in certain regards to be properly utilized if they did."_

He ended up standing through an hour long conversation because of a simple question. Maybe it was her job to keep people who used their products informed so they couldn't sue, but damned if he wasn't exhausted by the time he came there since he quite literally just arrived in town at that point.

Despite his physical state however it _was_ useful information for him. He had no clues about this era, so anything he could gleam was incredibly useful.

If only libraries weren't so sparse this far out.

He found one of the employees behind the glass counter in the center of the store leaning idly on it, appearing almost half asleep. He remained unnoticed as he stood only a couple of feet in front of the worker. The man was in such a daze that even clearing his throat didn't stir him from his musings. Snorting in amusement, Jonas rolled his eyes and tapped the back of his hand, getting a jolt of surprise from them.

"Wha-?! O-oh!" He squeaked in shock. His voice seemed to rise a few octaves in the middle Jonas noted for a moment until the employee managed to regain his composure, and bowing to him. "My apologies for my waning attention sir!"

It wasn't surprising being this far out from the capital. Not very many would buy dust in either form when it was more beneficial to simply go and make solar, wind, or hydro generators to save cash. Sure, it took longer to build an amount equal to a single dust crystal since the latter brings immediate results to the table, but the lien a whole town saved was palpable.

Also, it probably didn't help that he was currently without his long coat, showing off his armor. Part of the reason he started wearing one was to hide it; both to give an element of surprise when they found out there was more underneath, and more commonly to stop making the locals so nervous around him, since to them he looked like some sort of bandit or thug at first glance.

God, was he glad he put away his wings before coming here. They might've thought he was part of the White Fang or something!

"Not a problem." Jonas waved off chuckling. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small paper and handed it to them. "I'm just here to pick up an order I placed a couple nights ago."

"I see…" He mumbled, looking at the ticket numbers for a moment before he turned and walked towards a door in the back, probably leading to where they repair or upgrade weapons and armor. "I'll be back in a few moments."

"Gotcha." The brown-haired warrior nodded as the door closed behind them.

Back when he stood in that hour long lecture, he had decided to see if he couldn't get his gear, namely his coat and terra blade fitted with dust, as well as obtaining a few for experimental purposes. He had been meaning to for a long while but hadn't come across any stores that were equipped to do so until now, and he hadn't tested his luck mining for his own cache after the first incident. Found a bloody _mole-grimm_ burrowed in the stone. Incredibly weird looking too, and that was saying something.

' _What was it called again? Stonebreaker? Not too far-fetched with claws three times the size of my fist.'_

At any rate he had to make do with materials owned by the SDC for the time being. Luckily for him he had the lien needed to buy it from helping several towns. Gave him a pretty large amount as compensation for his actions.

Would've told them to keep it but he had a sneaking suspicion that he'd need to hold onto what he could. Lord only knew how bad of an idea it would be if he sold one of his hallowed bars. Probably make a mint off it, but the repercussions would more than likely be international from the find.

He didn't need more fingers pointed his way, thank you very much.

His mind wandered over the last few months. He'd gotten around rather well during that time. Enough that people were starting to recognize him on sight and that, along the way, he somehow earned the title of 'Indomitable Warrior'.

It was laughable really. He was the farthest thing from 'Indomitable'. He had more scars than he knew what to do with. Though to be fair, he had earned most of those before he was fully trained. Still got a couple every now and again, usually to an enemy he'd never seen before.

It was actually amazing that he wasn't all scar tissue at this point; more so that his face remained unscathed.

' _Been just about eleven years now, huh?'_ Jonas reflected, even noticing how quietly he said that in his head. He had long since lost track how long he'd been stuck on this world for exactly. Eleven was his best estimation of time. That would make him pretty close to twenty, though he might be off by a few months.

The sound of a doorknob turning brought his attention outwards, he raised an eyebrow at the man who was currently carrying his blade with his jacket draped over it, and a large and rather wide metal suitcase through the portal with a noticeable hunch.

"You know, I wouldn't've minded if you took them out here one at a time if it made everything easier to carry for you." Jonas called out with a small hint of mirth in his tone.

"No no, I got it!" He replied with a noticeable strain in his voice, breathing rather loudly through his nose. The worker let out an audible sigh when he dropped the items behind the counter, a noticeable sheen of sweat covering their brows. "It's pretty heavy though, and I've lugged quite a few items to the front!"

"Yeah, the weapon will do that." Jonas chuckled good naturedly. "So, all of it's ready?"

"Indeed, sir." The man nodded, holding his coat aloft after a moment's consideration. "To start you off, here's your jacket."

A first look showed that it had changed considerably. Moderately thick blue and dark blue lines ran along the edges of his coats gold embroider and up the front, some of which was glowing faintly in his shadow. The sides under the armpits were adorned with three wavy blue lines each, with each of them holding two different tones. A single thick blue line ran up his spine from the base of its tailcoat, abruptly splitting in the upper middle to form an outline of a diamond the rest of the way up, which was filled by a pale blue four-point star.

 **[** **Silk Overcoat** **]**

 **{Attachments: Light Hallow Plating, Gold Embroider, Inscription (English), Wolf Fur, Dust: Steam, Water, Ice}**

 **{Dyed: Midnight Blue}**

 **Durability: 400/400**

 **2 Defense**

His smile widened slightly. Even made it look stylish. Hard to imagine, what with them grinding up small bombs and putting them into clothing and armor.

Showed what he knew.

"You do nice work." Jonas complimented, finding his movements unimpeded as he moved his upper body around. He mentally grinned when the employee's eyes lit up and started smiling before shaking himself out of it and focusing on the other products he bought. With a small grunt he shakily lifted the sword.

Though he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of his face going red from the strain. Grabbing the blade from the middle, he easily lifted the blade in his hands. The worker gawked as the warrior deftly pulled the blade from its sheathe. It looked more or less the same, save for its middle. Where there once were holes there were now ornate bronze clamps holding in place three ovular dust crystals; two of which were green while the one in the center was blue. If it weren't for the small black button underneath each of them, which he assumed to be the release mechanism, most people would've assumed it was a decoration.

 **[** **Legendary Terra Blade** **]**

 **Durability: 11756/13000**

 **{Attachments: Dust: Air, Water}**

 **109 Damage {215 Damage}**

 **9% Critical strike chance**

 **Very strong knockback**

 **Very fast swing speed**

 **+Fires a magical projectile that penetrates three enemies**

 **+15% Damage**

 **+10% Swing speed**

 **+15% Knockback**

 **+10% Size**

Jonas had to fight to keep the evil smile off his face. It was a significant power boost for using these gems, though it could be that it means using them at full power. More likely, the more or less aura you pour into it the more it augments the damage.

"Along with those are some extras you can fit in the slots." The employee cut into his musings, placing the massive suitcase onto the table before opening and flipping it in his direction. Red, green, yellow and blue crystals were laid out in foam padding to stop their movement. Lifting the first layer revealed another that looked exactly the same underneath. "You have an extra three sets here, excluding what you already have in your blade. The cushioning _should_ stop them from shaking too much, but _do_ be careful with them."

At Jonas' nod of affirmation he looked down onto his computer and looked up his order before he continued. "Now, with your coats encrusting, along with your swords added fasteners and dust crystals, including packaging, that comes to a total of one-thousand seven-hundred and three Lien. Are you paying through cash or credit?"

Placing the weapon on the countertop he reached into his pants pocket. Carefully covering what he could he materialized their currency before pulling it out and holding it out to the employee.

"Wow." The man whistled. "Haven't seen a silver Lien card in a while."

"I've been getting around." He chuckled, taking back the card and walking out of the store. After mindfully walking through an alleyway to put his weapons away he abruptly stopped when he ran a hand through his hair, which had grown beyond his shoulders.

' _Should get a haircut while I'm at it…'_

* * *

Having walked for several hours at this point, Jonas decided to set up camp at the base of a cliff he found that had a decent indent at its bottom, giving him better protection from the cold winds that were _finally_ warming up. Don't get him wrong, he liked snow about as much as a kid would, especially so since he could use it in a rather efficient snowball gun he had back home, but it would get tiring to anyone after seeing nothing but white for a third of the year. Though the snow had appeared to have melted a little while back, the cold winds still remained, so finding a useful place to hold down in was a pretty good deal, though it couldn't compare to a room at an inn. Surprisingly the plant life grew in with gusto despite winter's recent departure; so much so that he wondered if the local wildlife was on steroids from the world's ambient magic.

Running his hand through his now inch-long hair, he looked at the coming sunset, the orange skies telling him of the imminent night. Considering the time of year he probably had an hour and a half at most before it got dark; plenty of time to test a few things out at least.

Finding a nice empty spot a decent ways away from camp He pulled out the suitcase and gently lowered it onto the ground. Opening it, he took a moment to think of which one he should test. Settling on the one he had an affinity toward, he pulled out the blue crystal, removing his glove to hold it in his bare hand as a way to adjust to the natural power that emanated from it.

Though he couldn't feel its energies from a distance, direct contact always gave him different sensations depending on its colors. Red made him feel like the hand holding it was overheating, while blue felt like something wet was running down his limb. He wasn't sure if this was his semblance, or if his own natural mana pools were resonating with them in some way, though he wouldn't put it past this stuff.

Looking towards the opaque crystal, he turned his sights towards the case, idly wondering what effects they would have on the blade. Red would obviously coat it in flames, but he questioned the practicality of the yellow dust on his blade. Maybe he could weild it while it was still in the sheathe and use it like a stun baton?

It didn't immediately register to him, but after about seven or so minutes of holding it he noticed that the crystal in his hands was glowing slightly brighter than its brethren, not to mention that the sides had turned rough while running a thumb along it. The warrior held the crystal level with his face to get a better look along its siding, but was surprised to find that some small, barely noticeable lumps had grown.

"Couldn't be...could it?" He mumbled in interest. Reaching into the suitcase and pulling out a green gem this time, feeling the smooth siding for a moment before holding it towards one of his eyes. It wasn't noticeable for the first few minutes, but as time rolled on he saw a rough exterior expanding along the gem from where he was holding it outward.

Dust crystals were not a renewable source of energy from what he heard. First rate crystals would dim and turn a dark gray once emptied of their power, while the more see-through and weaker version that was created in-house would simply fall to pieces. Having a good idea of what was occurring Jonas lit up his mana, pouring more of it into his hand, and as if to prove his theory the crystal's growth rate increased. It was almost as if he were watching a snowflake form in front of him in slow motion.

"…That is _wicked_." He grinned. Throwing both of the dust shards into his inventory he materialized a black leather-bound book with decently sized ruby in the shape of a half-sphere mounted in the center of the cover, which was surrounded by a circle of silver. He opened it and wrote in some personal notes on the matter, taking the time to throw in some drawings for reference. "Wonder if I can make casings for them to shape it?"

Returning the book to his arsenal he grabbed another blue gem and held it aloft. His theories could wait for the moment. For now, he had to adjust to using dust as weaponry. He would've used his jacket instead, but it seemed like a better choice to experiment with them in the morning when he had more time. Really didn't want to rush himself and end up in a block of ice. Better to be patient and work slowly when it came to something new.

After about a half hour of flinging water and wind around the area, he learned that his theory of aura acting like something akin to a throttle was correct. The more you poured into it the more it let out in response. It was probably a good plan not to use any yellow or red dust in the forest though. An open field seemed better for that sort of training; easier to control the fires.

After a quick write-down, he moved on to testing out his blade; which was pretty interesting. Combining the wind and water while flinging his weapon around at high-speed made for a pretty decent cleaver. Launching the water like a crescent projectile at a tree clean-cut the one he was aiming at, as well as the one behind it right off from the stump before the water finally spread out enough to splash on the surrounding foliage and trees, yet leaving small holes and indents despite.

After noticing how low the sun had become what with the stars that were slowly appearing in the sky Jonas cut down a couple more trees with his blade, throttling it to different degrees to see how it would affect the cut. The explosion of wood chips from using a thirtieth of his full power painted a good picture of the bare minimum he actually needed for the simpler Grimm. Larger ones were anyone's guess until he used it against them.

It was good training all in all, though he wished he had enough time to try out the dust in his clothing. His eyes wandered into the sky, staring at the slowly rising moon.

He still wasn't used to that, Staring at a broken moon that was more than likely caused by him. Fist time he saw it at night he _screamed._ Whenever he was out in the wilderness he often wondered if the Grimm's appearance was caused by him killing that abomination.

He knew he had no choice in the matter. If he didn't then the world as they know it wouldn't _be_ here right now. But there was always that 'What if' lingering in his head…

He shook his head out of those thoughts. There was no use dawdling on what could've been. He needed to focus on the now.

On how to fix what was broken, and bring back what was gone.

It was apparently clear to him that another event had triggered while he was gone, and stuck around probably a short time after he left. He just needed to deal with as many threats as possible to bring out the big boss, or bosses depending on if they're similar to the lunar invasion.

It was blandly simple; so much so that it'd make a few people look at him like he was an idiot, but that was how it worked up until now. Why break the streak?

Having done what testing he could for the day he returned to his campsite, though not before pocketing the lumber.

Even though he had to camp out, that wasn't to say he couldn't make himself more comfortable.

* * *

All things considered, he had a decent night's sleep, what with building a small little house along with a bed. Would have continued well a ways through the morning too if he hadn't woken up to an ominous storm coming towards him.

It wasn't that storms scared him. Quite the contrary, they made for a rather relaxing night as well as some entertainment in the form of goldfish walking on their back fins across the land, some flying fish seeking his death for some reason or another, though they hadn't appeared since he returned.

They made for many a good dinner at least.

But there was a tension in the air since the clouds started rolling in. He couldn't make sense of it, and no matter how much he tried to ignore the damned feeling, it still hung around in the background like a badly cooked meal one had eaten recently that lingered on ones tongue. And then, as an act of providence, a lightning bolt came down close by.

Heading outside Jonas looked to the skies to find where the lightning might've gone off. He found it after several seconds of searching, an easy to miss trail of smoke trail that nearly blended with the dark clouds rolling in overhead.

He could just leave it. The rain would put out the flames before they could spread too much… But it was just as likely that the rain wouldn't be coming for another few hours.

But but but.

He growled quietly before bolting towards the smoke. If he was lucky it hadn't spread too far. At most it should only be trees numbering under a dozen when he gets there. Shouldn't be much of a problem.

And of course, as if the goddesses of luck and fate vomited on him, a shrill scream of a woman tore through the air.

Jonas sighed before bolting in the direction it came from. "Didn't realize it was Tuesday already."

It turned out to be close by the edge of the forest, if the group of five on the dirt road in front of him was any indication. Jonas lowered himself behind a bush, eyes jumping between each individual.

One of them, who he guessed was the one who yelled out, lay in a crumpled heap unconscious. What was most worrying were the dark lines slowly developing on her brown skin. Her visage bared a constant grimace behind her messy shoulder length hair despite a lack of awareness. She looked to be going through a great deal of pain from whatever the other three did.

The man standing in front of her was wielding a massive great-sword bearing gears above its handle. He wore a lightly formal gray and black dress shirt along with slacks and shoes, and a dilapidated red cape that looked to have seen better days. His hair looked like a mess, partially covering dull red eyes.

Jonas only gave him a passing glance however. He was far more worried about the girl now that he got a more thorough look at her.

{Fall Maiden}

 **[** **Amber Tawny** **]**

 **Aura:**

 **{ERROR}**

 **Health:**

 **31/50**

 **Mana:**

 **{ERROR}**

 **Current Ailments:**

 **[Shattered Soul]: The 'Heart' broken through Unnatural means. Various stats are greatly weakened.**

 **[Grip of Death]: Unable to wake. Cannot regenerate health. Gradually lose health.**

 **[Weak]:** **Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

' _Okay!'_ He thought with exasperation. _'First question: How in the bloody hell did this happen?! Cause I sure as hell haven't seen anything like this before!'_

His eyes quickly fell to the other three, discreetly checking their status. It was when they fell upon the woman in red that he got the confirmation to his theory.

{Black Bishop}

 **[** **Cinder Fall** **]**

 **Aura:**

 **34/126  
174/243**

 **Health:**

 **107/150**

 **Mana:**

 **3/25  
0/0  
**

 **Current Buffs:**

 **[Soul Stealer]: Wield the strength and powers of another. Various stats are increased.**

Well that's just lovely, now he had to keep an eye out for more crazies like her. And he thought he might finally be free of them too.

Not to mention, why did she have two separate mana bars?

' _Tuesdays suck!'_ Jonas whined. _'Why do they gotta exist!? They're nothing but a blight on the waking world!'_

He stared at her, noticing with a raised eyebrow that the woman had amber eyes that bordered on gold, one of which was hidden behind black hair that accentuated the beauty of her face. She wore a red dress held aloft by straps with separated sleeves, both of which bore yellow accents, and black shorts under her split skirt. Oddly enough, she was wearing black high heels for some reason. Maybe to gut her opponent with her kicks?

In either case, it was best to assume she was the enemy, what with robbing the other girl of part of her soul. Amber, despite being a magic user–albeit a mid-to-high level Apprentice, but a magic user nonetheless–she still managed to take her down somehow. She probably used something demonic in nature, meaning he could hopefully reverse it. If not, at the _very_ least he could avenge the poor girl.

Still, she did have comrades with her, and with semblances being a thing in this age, it wouldn't be far-fetched if they hypnotized her into submission or something before the black haired guy got back to stop it. Luckily for him he had two things going for him. First was that he had the element of surprise, since it seemed they hadn't realized he was here yet. Secondly, both sides seemed to be focused solely on the other. He didn't know how long that'd last however.

He'd need to act quickly to fix this mess.

Jonas hid behind a tree about a dozen feet back, and materialized his helmet over his head. While it wouldn't cover his hair, the visor and mask would give him a good deal of anonymity. His eyes focused on the other two of her group, starting with the green-haired girl in a crop-top, Emerald Sustrai if his status check was any indication. Better to get rid of the teammates first before focusing on the would-be mini-boss, and she seemed to be the faster of the two. The other guy looked to be weighed down slightly by his mechanical legs if the blood on his thighs were a good enough tell, as long as it wasn't Ambers.

With his heart resolved Jonas stepped out from behind the tree, looking at their current positions and lining himself up for a clear shot at Emerald while taking a runners stance. Both mana and aura coalesced around his legs and arms, shifting between shades of blue. His eyes glowed behind his visor. He rocketed forward in a single push.

They didn't even have time to react.

They were experienced enough to listen to their surroundings, and to their credit the lot of them _did_ register his movement as he expected they would, but by the time they were trying to react to his presence his knee had already connected with Leaf Girl's face with a sickening _*Crack!*_. She flew through the air, tearing right through the wooden fence and smashing into the hill behind her.

"Emerald!" The Gray-haired man shouted.

She had landed in a heap, though he didn't have enough time to give a more thorough look before a metal leg came at him from his left.

The leg flew by as he contorted his body, the prosthetic just passing by his head by a narrow margin. The sound of a gun firing went off from behind, pushing the gray-haired man back. A weaponized metal limb? He didn't find anything resembling a weapon on him otherwise.

The weapon enthusiast inside him couldn't help but geek out over it, only to be immediately quashed as his other leg came at him in a roundhouse kick. This time he was ready, and grabbed the foot in one of his hands before it could connect, though he still felt the force of the attack travel down his arm, giving him a good amount of discomfort.

They were good.

Really good.

Unfortunately for the man he stood too long gawking at him, apparently shocked that he stopped his attack. He retaliated with a vengeance, sweeping his other leg out from under him before flipping around and delivering a swift punch to the crotch hard enough to slam him onto the ground.

The man went cross-eyed, letting out a quiet, high-pitched whine and curling up into a ball while his hands covered his family jewels.

A quick glance over to the red-eyed man and Amber showed that the woman hadn't attack them while he was busy with the two, though the former was wincing at the Gray-haired man who had started to gag violently.

The sound of light footsteps alerted him to her presence. Making a magic and aura powered leap backwards looked to be the best move as Cinder had buried one of her scimitars where he was standing previously, throwing dirt into the air. Landing about fifteen feet away, he nearly pressed his advantage, only to stop when he noticed a bright orange ring appear, superheating the dirt in the air into diamond-shaped glass. Thinking fast, he put his left arm behind his back and discreetly generated an arcane runic circle as the projectiles careened towards him, before he himself launched forward.

A wall of small purple hexagons flashed into existence in front of him, and the glass shattered as it absorbed the blows, though not without a few of his own projections breaking under the speed of the attacks. Moments after the last shard hit the shield it abruptly faded from existence, disappearing just as he broke into the bishop's personal space.

He grinned when her eyes widened, and watched as her surprise quickly morphed into pain when his fist met with her stomach. The force knocked her halfway between him and the red-eyed man, her hands making trails in the dirt with her hands and knees to slow herself.

This time the red-ey–you know what, let's just call him Gear-Head for the time being–took the initiative, launching forward and digging his weapon next to her neck before placing a shoe on her back and forcing her onto the ground.

"Alright lady-" He started, pressing his foot hard enough to make her grunt in pain. "-you're going to reverse whatever you did right now, or I'm gonna take my chances on _killing_ you to do it."

The woman turned her head, giving him a heated glare. Orange and yellow energy poured from her eyes like a flame, catching the blue-clad warrior's attention.

The man's eyes hardened, and he grit his teeth before pulling his sword from the ground and held it over her, intent on impaling her.

" _There's no need for that._ " Jonas finally cut in. Gear-Head looked at him as he reached into his coat, hiding the flash of light as he materialized and pulled out a small square bottle filled to the brim with a deep blue liquid, which was sealed by a brass stopper shaped like a cross. " _Hold her still._ "

The fancily dressed man gave him a long measured look for several moments, as if he were trying to guess what he was planning. It was when Jonas started to worry if he was going to attack him that he visibly relaxed to a degree, giving him a small nod.

Sighing in relief, he walked towards them, crouching down next to the raven haired beauty and reaching his hand out. Magic coated his fingers before he held it over her, waving it from one end of her body to another.

Magic, no matter the form, always reacted to each other in certain ways. When the standard came across an unholy entity, it had a tendency to push back the former like a magnet. The only thing that could pierce through the darkened veil and destroy it was its polar opposite.

It was something he was working to his advantage, since he found a force pushing back his hand from what he guessed what a symbol between her shoulder-blades. It was shaped like two black high heels who's soles were pressed against one another, making the shape of a heart.

" _Right there…_ " He muttered, the glow from his hand fading. Pulling the stopper from the flask, he flipped it, pouring its contents right on the sigil.

Black and white lightning arced from her back, clashing against one another in a brutal struggle. Gear-Head almost jumped back in shock from the sight. Cinder's screams echoed into the surroundings as the opposing forces did battle, her hands clawing into the dirt. A dark swirl of energy coalesced underneath them, before abruptly shattering when only the white lightning remained. The sigil slowly faded from her back, and many tiny flecks of orange and yellow light began to float from her up into the air.

Thinking fast, Jonas pulled the small motes of light towards him, joining them together in a small sphere and containing it in a small bubble of his own magic to make sure her soul wasn't lost to the winds.

" _Got it._ " He announced to the man, grinning lightly when he sagged a bit in relief.

Only for his body to abruptly wind up tight as a spring.

"Move!" He shouted. Inhaling sharply, Jonas jumped clear over him as he leaped back a few feet, landing behind the man.

Metal legs was back on his feet, his face holding a snarl that had little effect due to how green his face looked.

' _Huh…figured I had him outta commission for longer.'_ He mused; impressed he was standing after the damage he did.

The bishop slowly got to her feet, staring daggers at them both. Her eyes wandered to the ball of light in his hand, and they narrowed as she growled at him. It looked like she would've lunged at him had Gear-Head not stepped between them and took a fighting stance with his brows drawn in determination.

She looked between him and the girl on the ground for a moment, before letting loose a snarl. Quickly reaching into the bag on her hip, she pulled out a small brown pellet that she threw on the ground, engulfing the area briefly in light. His visor aided in mitigating some of the damage to his eyes, but by the time they had readjusted the three had vanished from the area. His eyes widened as he quickly turned around, but to his solace the brunette had been left untouched by the trio in their departure.

"Damnit!" Gear-Head swore, looking about ready to go charging after them.

" _Wouldn't recommend it_." He cut in before he could do anything stupid. They turned sharply, staring at his eyes right through the visor. " _I can understand why you'd want to go after them, but after what they did, they could very well be a ploy to draw one of us out in order to more easily be able to deal with the other group, and re-obtain their target; whether or not it's this or her._ " Jonas finished, holding the sphere aloft.

He looked at him for a moment, his eyes roving between him and where he assumed the three had run off to before sighing in frustration, giving him a small nod.

Nodding back, he turned and walked towards the girl, only to be stopped by the man's blade digging into his gorget. Turning his head, he was surprised to see he had moved from standing at least half a dozen feet to right next to him in about a second.

"Look bud, you might've helped us and everything, but considering what I just saw and dealt with I don't really want you anywhere _near_ her right now. You want any closer than this; you gotta answer a few of my questions first."

" _...Fair point._ " Jonas conceded. " _What do you want to know?_ "

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

" _The folks around here tend to call me the '_ Indomitable Warrior _', apparently._ "

The man's eyebrows seemed to perk slightly at his answer, though looked to be playing it off.

"Alright, next, what the heck is that?"

" _The fragment of her soul they attempted to steal._ " He replied bluntly, staring at her body, and finding in his growing panic that her health was draining rapidly, having already dropped ten points.

His eyes wandered to the shard. He seemed to look mystified by it. Maybe he'd never seen one before? Granted, neither did he, but he's seen _far_ weirder shit than this. A soul was pretty much par for the course.

And no, he wasn't proud of it.

"…And what do you want with it exactly?"

" _What I_ want _is to put this back in her body before it decides to kick the bucket._ " Jonas snarked in irritation. " _The longer we keep talking the more likely she's gonna give out, at which point me containing her soul like this would become moot. There are already signs of it happening, so if you don't mind, can I finish what I came here to do?_ "

His sword twitched slightly, better known as a warrior's flinch. Jonas sighed when Gear-Head gave him yet another drawn out and narrowed stare. Guy seemed to love those. Maybe he enjoyed drawing out the suspense?

After what seemed like an eternity, Gear-Head finally let his weapon fall to his side. To his interest, the blade pulled inward segment by segment until it was about as tall as his chest and head. Not even the tip of the blade stood out, instead leaving long hexagonal hole.

Reminding himself to ask him how he made it later, he walked towards the comatose girl, gently turning her over with his free hand. Jonas winced at the dark brown scarring that covered her cheeks, eye and between her brows. Gear-Head loomed over him as he worked. Understandable considering the circumstances.

He worked swiftly but carefully, holding the errant force of Amber's individuality over her. Slowly, he dissipated the bubble starting from the bubble, allowing the flecks to float, finding its way towards her chest. All of a sudden the small lights came pouring through the hole, swirling in the air around them like a spiral. It almost looked as if it were dancing

The beauty of the sight wasn't lost on him.

Both watched as the lights congregated some ten feet above her body, becoming still for a brief moment before abruptly launching itself like a bullet into her chest. Her body arced from the point of impact, orange and yellow light surrounding her for a couple brief seconds before it dimmed and her body fell limp.

They watched with bated breath for any sort of change, though nary a twitch of her fingers or change from her erratic breathing came. Her status screen remained unchanged, and after a couple minutes of waiting he inwardly feared he might've been too slow.

Then the screen briefly turned to static, and the brunette gasped as her body tensed when it settled.

Both men let out long sighs of relief. Jonas hung his head as the tension that worked its way into his body without noticing worked its way out of his system. His eyes finally focused on the screen.

{Fall Maiden}

 **[** **Amber Tawny** **]**

 **Aura:**

 **108/252**

 **Health:**

 **21/100**

 **Mana:**

 **3/50  
0/0**

 **[Shattered Soul]has worn off!**

 **[Grip of Death] has worn off!**

 **Current Ailments:**

 **[Weak]:** **Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!**

Just to be safe he removed a glove and placed it on the back of her head and on her neck to check her pulse.

' _Thank god for small mercies at least…'_ He quipped while putting his glove back on, finding no physical changes besides her prominent scarring. Standing, he looked towards the sky as thunder rolled by overhead. Wouldn't be much longer until it rained.

His eyes quirked in Gear-Head's direction. " _We should probably get out of here while we can. I have a place close by we can hold up in until then._ "

"I can handle myself just fine kid." He proclaimed with no small amount of pride.

" _In the rain? While fighting three people or more depending on if they have reinforcements? Whose main goal just so happens to be her_ literal soul _?_ " He responded dryly. The man's eyes twitched slightly in irritation, and a grimace broke on his face. Quietly swearing under his breath about his back luck as the first drops of water began to fall, his eyes drifted to his visor.

"Fine, lead the way." He gave the go ahead. "But I'm carrying the girl."

" _By all means._ " He gestured towards her.

Gear-Head briskly walked past him, leaning down and picking the woman up in a bridal carry. While he was doing that, Jonas was already walking back towards the forest, and it wasn't long before he heard the man a few steps behind him.

" _Names Jonas. What's yours?_ "

"Qrow Branwen."


	7. When The Water Meets The Leaves

**The Cosmic Cycle**

" _ **We create our fate every day we live."**_

 _ **Henry Miller**_

 **Chapter 7**

 **When the Water Meets the Leaves**

* * *

When she awoke from her strange dream of water and ash, it was to her body feeling like burning lead. Her arms and legs barely responded to her commands, moving at a snail's pace. She felt as if someone threw her into a human-sized dryer with the aches and pains that ran through her body; her shoulder most of all if the constant burning she felt from it was a clue. The only exception was the pleasant feeling of something cool and wet placed on her brow. The sound of rain could be heard pouring down from above her, its sound like background static. It threatened to send her back to her dreams.

How did she end up like this? She tried and failed to remember what could have caused this, her brows knitting together in dulled frustration. Mentally backtracking, she looked at everything she did up until she blacked out.

Amber remembered leaving the town of Maple three days ago on horseback, having stopped a few times a ways off the roads that she wouldn't be noticed by any passing thugs who didn't have a discerning eye. It was a rather bland trip between there and the next town with no Grimm or bandits and thieves to be seen, with the plan of stopping at Vale for a few weeks before moving on to Vacuo. She was two days off from getting to Acre when a storm started rolling in, and she encountered a little gi-.

 _The sound of flames and lightning._

 _Adrenaline, anger and fear._

 _A malevolent glove and an insect._

Her eyes snapped open and she lurched forward with a gasp, the wet cloth on her head falling off as her adrenaline kicked into overdrive. Wild eyes wandered around the area, expecting to find herself tied down by the three who attacked her, with the intent of holding her captive, but instead finding herself in what appeared to be a log cabin on a large king-sized bed with a quilt blanket. There were no windows except small holes placed close to the ceiling, allowing the smoke out from the fire in the center of the small home.

"Welcome back kid." A gravelly voice said from her left. Amber whipped her head around, and found herself staring into dull red eyes.

"Qrow…" She spoke quietly. All of the adrenaline running through her veins abruptly vanished, and fell back into the bed she was laying on; belatedly finding her head being cradled on an incredibly soft and fluffy pillow.

"Easy there Amber." He admonished gently, putting a hand on her shoulder when she struggled to sit up. He cracked a lopsided smile. "You've had a heck of a rough time with things today. Just relax."

Amber nodded, willing her body to calm down. Ultimately she managed to get her quick breathing under control after a few minutes. She laid there, letting the sound of the fire and the rain soothe her addles mind while she worked to get it together. Lightning cracked, pulling her out of her thoughts and looking towards Qrow.

"How long was I out?" She rasped, voice rough.

"About six hours." Qrow shrugged. "Long enough that I can't get a signal in this storm to call for pickup. Gotta wait till it ends, so for the time being we're stuck."

Amber winced. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault kid." Qrow sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Neither of us saw this coming. Don't beat yourself up over it."

She only nodded lightly in response, knowing it was impossible to help but feeling a bit guilty all the same. Qrow sighed deeply, looking at the ground and muttering to himself. Both sat in silence, ruminating on past events, though Amber held more questions.

"…What happened?" She asked. "The last thing I remember is that woman pointing a glove at me. Next thing I know there's a small, insect-like grimm coming out of its palm and I'm blacking out."

Qrow's hands clenched tightly, and though he tried not to show it Amber noticed his eyes narrow imperceptibly. Having him come by every now and then to check up on her and give her updates gave her enough of an idea of the hunter's habits, not to mention _why_ he drank himself halfway into his own grave.

"Qrow, tell me what happened." She ordered, the roughness in her voice gone; replaced with a stern tone. The man sighed, slumping forward slightly in his seat with his head inclined. Reaching over, he grabbed a wooden bucket she hadn't noticed that was filled halfway full with water and handed it to her. Raising an eyebrow in question, she slowly sat up, realizing just how exhausted she was, taking it from his hands and looked into it-.

And nearly dropped it at the sight of her reflection; choking at the dark scars that ran all over her face. Her normally brown complexion was dull and pale, whether from the sickness she felt or whatever they did to her she didn't know.

"The three who attacked you did something that allowed them to steal your powers." Grow sighed deeply. "They used some sort of weird ass glove and…well, if what I saw from your attacker is any clue, then they tried to steal a part of your soul."

Amber's eyes dilated at the admission, her mind trying and failing to comprehend. The water in the bucket rippled as her hands trembled; only stopping when large callused hands were firmly placed over her own.

"Amber, look at me." He spoke gently. "Deep breaths, alright? You're _fine_. Whatever they did to you, we fixed. You're the way you were before all this happened, just with some scars. You're okay. _Breathe_."

Amber nodded, barely hearing him as her vision began to blur from the building moisture in her eyes. She took deep breaths, clearing out all outside noise and focusing on the sound of her heart, which was beating a mile a minute at this point. She looked inward, trying to find the source of her soul. It responded after a moment, giving her an image of a pulsing orange and yellow ball behind her eyelids. A small white light lay unperturbed in the middle, just as she remembered it all those years ago when she first got her powers.

' _Everything's fine.'_ She thought, her body slowly unwinding. Her cheeks burned when she heard Qrow sigh and fall back into his chair, not even realizing that he left his seat. She gave him a sheepish smile "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it; you had every right to freak out." He said offhandedly. Amber couldn't help but giggle at him. The man always had a habit of downplaying something all nonchalantly, usually to put on airs of being cool.

Her thoughts froze when she registered his words.

"Wait, 'we'?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing she was still holding onto the bucket and placing it on the floor. "Is Professor Goodwitch or Ozpin with you?"

"Not exactly…" Qrow shook his head and explained the situation. "This guy came out of nowhere and dealt with them. looked like he wasn't putting that much effort into it either. Handed them their asses and took back your soul with this odd water. What makes it really weird is his abilities. Was beyond any semblance I've ever seen before."

Amber's brows furrowed the further he went, and by the end she had more questions than answers.

' _A man coming to our defense isn't all that strange, but everything he did leading up to my soul being returned to me? More than unusual; which is saying something coming from me…'_

Both sat there in silence and contemplation. Amber herself didn't know what to think. They saved her life, not to mention if he knew about her powers and wanted them for himself, why would he give it back to her? Did he need her alive for some plan?

She shook her head. It wouldn't do to let her mind wander to unwanted places. Her best option was to see this man for herself before placing judgment.

"Did you catch his name?" She cut into the silence, snapping Qrow out of his musings with a small jerk.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Said his name was Jonas, and if what he says he is can be believed, then he's the 'Indomitable Warrior of Vale'."

Amber blinked at that. She had heard the stories of their exploits throughout Vale; both the normal and supernatural. Strange things seemed to follow the warrior like a plague.

Guess that included her now if he really was him.

It would make it so much easier if it proved to be true. Having someone like him covering her back, and having some background knowledge on the guy would be a major weight taken off her back. But for the time being it was best to err on the side of caution.

"Is he still here?"

"Yup. Said he was going to stand guard in case your attackers tried to make another attempt." He replied blandly. "Honestly, I'm just glad he's out of our hair, though its still pretty likely he might try to set something up out there, but hey. Least I'm close by in case that happens."

"...Wouldn't that technically let him do what he wants?"

"...Fair point." He admitted. After a second, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Take it you want to talk to him."

"It's the only way to get a good idea about him, unless you have any suggestions."

"Torture?" Her glare was enough of an answer to that statement. Qrow raised his hands in surrender. "I'm joking. But in all seriousness, be careful. We have no clue what he wants from us."

She barely quelled the urge to scoff. Yes, she got it, she needed to watch out if they tried to pull something. He didn't need to point it out! She made mistakes occasionally, and yes, she wasn't as experienced as him by any stretch of the word, but she wasn't some danger-prone child that needed to have an adult looming over them in case an accident happened.

Well…until now anyway.

"I know." Amber nodded, suddenly glad for the assistance. She grinned slightly in amusement as Qrow sighed again, possibly out of habit, before moving to exit the building. The cacophony of rain picked up as the door opened, and she belatedly realized just how much the rain was pouring.

A bout of vertigo came over her, causing her vision to swim as she placed a hand over her mouth when she began to cough and retch; belatedly realizing just how horrible she felt without something occupying her mind. Did they three who attacked her cause this, or was she left out in the rain too long? Eventually they subsided, and she leaned on the bedpost with a groan, placing an arm over her eyes. She stayed like that, listening to the sound of the rain in a vain hope that it would calm her roiling stomach down until she heard the door open. Shifting her arm, she saw firstly how soaked Qrow was when he came back in, dripping from his hair and clothes all over the floor, only for her eyes to freeze upon her person of interest as he followed behind him, feeling a tingling sensation roll down her back.

It felt similar to-

No, it couldn't be. Dreams were dreams.

But then why was this sensation so familiar?

A dark blue, dust encrusted and gold embroidered long coat that was lightly armored on the shoulders covered over scale mail that ran most of the way down his similarly colored, lightly armored leggings, leading under his gray-armored boots and leather gloves that ran up to his elbows and knees. All of his clothing was suspiciously dry too.

Though what stood out to her the most was his face. Though it looked average and about her age, there was something in those stormy blue eyes of his. It was like they were speaking of an age belayed by the appearance of his body.

To her slight surprise he seemed to be relieved to see her conscious. His brows furrowed when his eye wandered towards her scars before pushing it away, and replacing it with a small smile.

"Hello." He greeted amiably, inclining his head in an informal bow. "I don't know if he told you, but my name is Jonas Everblue. Apologies we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

"I'm Amber Tawny, and likewise." She grinned tiredly in response. She moved to prop herself up on the wall, wincing slightly when the pain in her lower back started to act up again. A set of hands lightly grabbed her from behind, and she yelped quietly as the brown-haired man carefully moved her so her back was placed carefully on her pillow, which had somehow been moved without her noticing to lean on the wall.

"Easy now. You've had a helluva day." Jonas scolded with no small amount of kindness in his tone, leaving her a bit stumped. "You still need to rest."

"I know." She responded dryly. "I feel like I got ran over by a group of Ursa."

"Not too far off methinks." He chuckled wryly. Both her and Qrow raised a brow at the odd dialect. Some people from eastern vale tended to speak that way, but the timber in which he spoke was noticeably different. Jonas blinked at their reactions before it dawned on him after several seconds, and he gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, where I come from most people tended to speak with that accent and wording."

"No no, its not that, Its just...I've never heard it before."

"...Yeah." He replied quietly, eyes becoming pained as he stared skyward with longing. "There uh...there aren't very many of us left who speak like that."

"Oh crud." She groaned, mentally smacking herself upside the head for her lack of tact. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Its quite alright. You know next to nothing about me or my history, so questions like that are only natural." He soothed, giving a sad smile before shaking it off and holding a hand out towards the floor. She went wide-eyed when a wooden chair appeared in a flash of light next to Qrows before the man took a seat. Amber looked towards the old crow, getting a shrug in response before her eyes wandered back to him."Right now though I'm more worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"Its nothing to worry about.I think I'm in pain, but I think." She gave a small smile. It slowly fell from her face when the man's visage went serious.

"It might be more than that I'm afraid." He cryptically replied. "Tell me, do you have any flu-like symptoms?"

"Err...yes?" She answered, eyebrow raised.

"Did you have them before your encounter with your attackers?"

"No..?"

"Lastly, and sorry if I happen to bring up bad memories by asking this..." He expressed regret before continuing. "Did you always have those facial scars? And was your complexion always that pale?"

"No." She replied irritably.

"...Well crap." He muttered under his breath, barely legible to the other two people in the room. "Was hoping it wasn't that."

"Hoping it wasn't what?" Amber asked with unease creeping into her voice. Qrow moved in his seat, sitting in a way that would let him stand and immediately take a fighting stance if the brunette became hostile.

"Demonic magic."

Both of them froze, though the man either didn't notice or decided to press on despite.

Jonas rubbed a hand along his neck, eerily reminding her of Qrow's habits. "By the look of it, whatever they used on you left behind some of its taint; if what you confirmed for me is accurate. The scarring on your face is also another factor, since unholy magic is known to pale ones skin tone, and leave behind markings like that if one is attacked there. Though it might be better to describe it as a type of infection I suppose."

Her face went chalk white, and from the corner of her eye Qrow wasn't too far off from that either, though giving a grimace instead; Glaring daggers towards the door. Much to her chagrin, he wasn't finished.

"Being stuck for prolonged periods of time in that state can lead to excessive irritability, paranoia, and insomnia; along with a whole host of other symptoms I'd rather not get into. Luckily for everyone here you don't seem to have too much of it in your system yet, though it can grow if left alone for too long. You haven't gotten that far having been recently afflicted with the crap though, so it should be relatively easy to remove it."

"S-so you can get rid of it?" She internally scolded herself for stuttering. Jonas confused her when he gave an apologetic look before nodding.

"Yeah, but it ain't gonna be pretty." He said. The man reached into his coat, pulling out a square flask with a brass cross stopper. She was puzzled by the blue liquid inside, which dimly glowed in the mans shadow with a pale light.

"I saw you use that on that black-haired chick earlier." Qrow stated. "Mind filling us in here?"

"This-" He began, shaking the contents of the flask. "-Is holy water. Its able to remove any traces of that malignant presence from your body. Also makes you immune to it for about five hours before it wears off. The thing is..." Jonas frowned. "Well, you kinda have to drink it."

"...Why are you making that face?"she asked with no small amount of apprehension.

"Well..." Jonas gave her a sheepish smile. "See, when you drink it, most of the crap is going to be expelled rather...violently. Small amounts usually just make you cough it up, but considering how you look, and if how you're feeling is accurate...its probably gonna make you puke."

Both Qrow and him watched as her face twisted into a horrified wince, taking on a pale green hue.

"Is there any other alternative?" She said meekly.

"If there was, believe me when I say that I would've used that as the first option." He gave her a sad look of understanding. "Only reason I know about any of this is because I had to do it to myself at one point."

"Wha-"

"Only finish that question if you _really_ wanna be burdened with the answer." Jonas shuddered, eyes looking haunted.

She thought it best to drop the matter and leave it at that.

"And how do we know this is the same stuff you've used on the other chick exactly?" Qrow questioned arms folded as he leaned back on his chair. "For all we know this crap could poison her."

To Amber's amusement the brunette sighed exasperatedly, putting his face into his hands. After a couple seconds he stared at Qrow with no small amount of annoyance.

"If I really wanted to do that, why wouldn't I have simply killed her when you were preoccupied with the gruesome threesome? I doubt any of you noticed me at the time, so it would've been rather easy to complete without any interference."

"Fair point, but what if-"

"Oh for gods sake." Jonas groaned. "Will it convince you if I take some of the bloody thing?"

Looking to both of them and receiving nods he rolled his eyes before summarily pulling the stopper and downing a quarter of the bottles contents. He let the bottle fall to his side and sat there for a couple of minutes. Nothing but silence reigned during that time, with no noticeable symptoms appearing.

"That good enough for you?" He dryly asked with a raised brow, holding the bottle out to her. Once she grabbed it from his hand, he immediately reached over and chucked the contents of the wooden bucket into the corner of the cabin before holding the object towards her. "You're probably gonna need this."

She made a face as she took it from him. Staring into it, she mentally considered whether or not there were other alternatives she could take, to no avail. There was never anything in the old texts on how to deal with a situation like this, what with having a part of her soul stolen temporarily and apparently having her body tainted by dark magics. If what he said was true, then it could be removed fairly quickly but…

Did she really need to throw up to do it?

It could have been a lie, and it wouldn't be far-fetched what with all this talk about demonic magic.

The only thing that made her think otherwise was both his body language, which looked to be completely relaxed. Like he had nothing to hide. If he was lying to get her to drink it, wouldn't he have looked a little more tense about it? And his face...the complete sincerity his expression held disarmed her. She couldn't think that he lied to her, despite her minds continued urging; though if he was telling the truth, then that was the evil magic talking.

All three sat there in silence, one on guard with their new acquaintance, who was currently looking at her with sympathy.

Amber sighed, slumping forward before steeling herself and swallowing the rest of the flask; being careful not to spill a drop to stop herself ending up having to do this more than she needed. Her eyes clenched shut. Seconds passed, and they slowly opened when no effects promptly showed. She looked towards Jonas.

"Are you sure it's-"

 _*_ _ **Gurgle**_ _*_

Her eyes turned to pinpricks as she summarily turned green. All words failed her, and the bucket was in her hands in a mere second when she felt something slimy slowly crawling its way up her throat. Both men winced as she heaved, a thick, black ooze making its way out of her mouth. To everyone's disgust, though hers was far greater in her opinion, the gelatinous mass _twitched_ in the wooden pail, pushing her to force out more of it in rapid succession.

" _That_ was what was inside her!?" Qrow nearly shouted, though she wasn't paying all that much attention. Tears streaked down her face as more came pouring out of her.

"Yeah, that's demonic magic for you. Despicable stuff really." Jonas replied grimly. To her eternal relief the last of the... _thing_ left her system after what felt like forever. She breathed deeply, simply savoring the air without that evil sludge blocking her throat. A hand lay gently on her shoulder, and she looked up; finding Jonas standing over her with a handful of tissues. Taking them, and nodding in gratitude, she cleaned herself up; tossing the remnants into the bucket.

He pulled out another bottle from his jacket, and she watched with a small amount of curiosity as he poured it over the refuse. To her horror the mass quietly _screamed_ , dissipating into a black smoke wherever the water made contact with it. Eventually all of it turned into gas, scattering about through the holes in the building through an unseen wind.

Though it wasn't immediately noticeable, she did feel a bit better. The fever she was under had abated slightly, and her body felt a good deal less sore; no longer feeling any discomfort whenever she moved her fingers and limbs. Even the headache that had built up from when she woke had calmed. She looked towards their benefactor, who for all intents and purposes, despite everything insanely unnatural that occurred, looked completely relaxed as he returned to his chair; as if he dealt with events like this with _shocking_ regularity.

Just who _was_ this guy?

"Alright, now that that's dealt with, I'd recommend taking the time to rest for the day. If this is anything like the time I contracted it, you're going to need time for recuperation, which can take a few days depending on how bad it was." Jonas looked towards Qrow. "I don't suppose you've managed to contact your associates?"

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "No luck unfortunately."

"You know how long it'll take for them to send help once you're able?"

"About two or three hours give or take, since we aren't that far off from Vale. Depends on if they run into any Nevermores or Gryphons mid-flight."

"Then I'll keep watch for the duration of the storm. Once it clears out and you're able to call for aid, I'll be on my way."

Her eyes widened. He was leaving so soon? She still had so many questions! The guy was a literal enigma to her, and with everything he did, not to mention what she heard he dealt with along his journey, she wanted to get to know him a bit more.

The man handed Qrow a couple more bottles before he started to move towards the door. Her hands clenched at the blanket, and the words came pouring from her mouth before she had a chance to stop.

"Wait!"

Both men jumped slightly at the shout. Qrow stared at her with eyes slightly widened in surprise. Even Jonas seemed to have been startled by her, blinking as he turned to face her fully with a raised eyebrow. A fierce blush broke out on her cheeks, and she stuttered for several seconds. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and looked towards the object of her interests.

"Sorry, its just..." She petered out for a moment before regaining her momentum. "...Can I ask you a few questions?"

The man blinked, seemingly dumbfounded by her outburst. Just when she thought he might say no a small, sincere smile grew on his face.

"Alright." He allowed, moving back and sitting in his chair. "What do you want to know?"

Amber looked down towards the sheets, getting her thoughts in order.

"How is it you know how to deal with things like this?" She looked up at him, staring at him directly in the eyes. Her own were filled with curiosity. "I've sure as hell never seen anything like it before, and I really doubt anyone else has either, so how do you?"

"Believe it or not, things like this are pretty much the norm for me." He said. The man froze for a moment, and proceeded to look at the ceiling as he scratched his chin. "Well, up until several months ago anyway. I still come across it often enough to notice when supernatural events are happening, so its not _too_ different from what I usually deal with on a daily basis."

All she could do was gape. From the way the man was acting he didn't even consider it to be a danger. By his tone, he seemed even playful, despite the fact someone literally tried to steal her soul!

Who _WAS_ this guy?!

"Ooookay then..." She quietly murmured. "Why do you seem so relaxed though? From what I was told they nearly stole a part of my soul right? How can you be so calm about that?"

"Would you believe me if I said that wasn't even in my top ten list of weirdest things I've seen?"

"Yeah, I don't think I could." She admitted with narrowed eyes. The man laughed, looking unsurprised at her reaction.

"What if I could prove it?" He gave her a cheshire grin.

"It would have to be pretty outlandish." She looked at him with an incredulous look. Jonas smiled at her, unnerving both her and Qrow, before he raised a hand and covered both of his eyes. Both looked on confused, wondering if the man had finally gone mad; or already was if one considered what he was spouting.

Jonas lowered his hand.

Both of them froze.

Because what both of them saw what something familiar to them on a personal level. It was the one thing they never expected to encounter from an unknown; let alone a _male_ of all people. Something that was only ever wielded by four individuals at any one time. It was like looking in a mirror whenever she activated her powers as a maiden, the energy pouring out of her eyes and streaming off into the air.

Only this was colored two different shades of blue rather than orange and yellow.

"What..." was the only thing she could say, though it was barely heard.

"I've become rather intimate with magic over the last decade. Honestly wasn't all that hard to learn." Jonas shrugged. "Of course, this is only the first stage out of the four for physical magic manifestation."

"First stage?" Both of them said. Jonas simply grinned and nodded.

"Yep. The first stage appears when a mid-to-high level apprentice manages to hit the first quarter of all magicians maximum potential, though it usually comes out the color of their elemental affinity. Stage two-" The blue energy began to expand until it covered the entirety of his body, giving off a glow that surrounded him similar to ones aura. His jacket and hair started to flutter in the non-existent wind. "-Is the halfway point; usually reached when one attains the rank of Mage. It looks exactly as you see it with me."

His eyes abruptly turned a solid blue, making Amber gasp while Qrow put a hand on his hilt as he analyzed the situation with further depth. Jonas smiled all the while. "The third stage covers ones eyes in a magical film, again of their affinity. It's obtained by mid-rank Wizards, though often that can take decades to achieve since growing your mana pool can take a pretty long time to grow at this point; including those with a natural affinity to magic. Its just that rare...though not as much as the last one."

She watched nonplussed as he closed his eyes again, only for him to open them a second later; showing that his iris and pupil had returned, only his iris had taken on a snow white hue. "The last one is so rare that its usually achieved once every three centuries or so. The color of the sclera usually matches the color of your affinity, though I'm not too sure about the iris; still trying to figure that out." He gave her a knowing smile. "This level is only attainable by one who reaches their maximum potential. They've managed to open their pools to the maximum size a human being can achieve. Those who manage to get this far are often called Arch in the magic community."

"'Arch'? Really?" Qrow flatly replied.

"I didn't choose the name!" He retorted indignantly. Quietly he turned around and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in. When he let it out, the glow that surrounded him slowly began to vanish, and when he opened his eyes much to her relief they had returned back to normal. "But yeah, what I just told you is a crash course on a non-magical beings magic capacity."

"Er-wait-" She said confusedly. "'Non-magic beings'?"

"Well, were creatures who aren't able to use magic as naturally as breathing, unlike magical beings." He admitted. "When we open ourselves to it were building a natural resistance that allows us to refine and contain the wild magic that floats in the air. If we tried to take it in when we haven't done any of that we'd die or drive ourselves insane."

"Wait, hold up, why are you telling us all this?" Amber asked, her mind a bit overloaded. The man literally knew next to nothing about them, yet he was freely giving away information–which in her opinion would have sounded like wildly spun tales were it not for him revealing his own magic–without so much as a moments hesitation.

Jonas gave her a small, gentle smile as he spoke with no small amount of kindness.

"Sweetie...I know what you are."

She felt the blood in her veins go cold as her stomach dropped into her legs. Her mind stopped functioning, and she absently heard the sound of a blade being drawn. Qrow pushed the edge of his great-sword against the mans neck.

"Let me ask a question of my own then." He said sharply, pressing his blade even further against his leather gorget. " _Who the hell are you working for_?"

"Not a soul but my own." Jonas replied, completely uncaring. Subtly he arced a hand up palm first, and to Amber's eternal interest a glowing purple circle with an eight-point star and a series of scribbles appeared for less than a second. The light-show quickly faded, though a purple glow remained on his hands. Jonas flicked a finger forward, and she watched in awe as the weapon was abruptly yanked from Qrow's tightly clenched hand and into Jonas' waiting one, much to the former's immense surprise.

"What the h-"

"I have a great many abilities, weapons, and items at my disposal Qrow." Jonas stated, unimpressed. "Let me be straight with you; had I truly wanted to hurt you both going full throttle, you would've already been dead in a multitude of ways. Being turned to ash, cleaved in half, frozen, shot, or exploded. And those are just off the top of my head!"

Chills ran up her back at his boast, and his disinterested expression only served to amplify the feeling. If what he said was to be believed, not to mention how easily Qrow was disarmed by him, what were their chances of surviving if he actively came after them with the intent to kill? The bead of sweat that ran down Qrow's brow told her of the tenuous situation they were in.

Jonas meanwhile eyed Qrow's weapon with great interest, turning it this and that way while looking at all the parts that made up the blade.

"How did you manage to make the segments fall into each other when you retract the blade?"

"...Really? You're asking that after you've put us at a disadvantage?" Qrow drolly asked, his expression more tired than disbelieving.

Amber felt the same way. The guy had a habit of jumping from being deadly serious to aloof and silly at the drop of a hat. Either he was flat out insane or he really could floor them that easily.

Was it wrong she was hoping for the former?

"Like I said, I'm not really your enemy." He replied like he was asked about the weather. "Doesn't answer my question either."

The huntsman sighed, massaging his glabella. He answered him in a flat tone. "When its not in use, the edge and flat split from the middle. This lets the blade fold in on itself. Doing that allowed the segments, which are decently thin, to slide into the opening next to one another through a black carbon-fibre rod in the middle that extends or contracts from a hidden button on the hilt."

"Really?" Jonas said in interest, giving the aforementioned area a more thorough glance. "Must've been a pain to design. How'd you manage that length with so little space?"

"Bit of a misconception actually. The hole runs down between the gears."

"Ahh, so the weapon-shifting runs on two separate mechanisms then. Intuitive." He complimented. "And what are these two tubes?"

"Shotgun barrels."

"Must be an expert in close range fights then."

"Something like that." Qrow grinned. Jonas smirked in amusement, and abruptly chucked his weapon back to him; much to his surprise.

"Already trusting me not to attack you?" Qrow questioned.

"Not really." He denied. "I just know if you attacked me right now, my partner would be rather disagreeable."

"Partner?" He stopped at the wide-eyed and gaping expression on Amber's face. The hunter went rigid when he felt a warm breath wash over his head. Looking slightly over his shoulder, he couldn't stop his own eyes from widening in shock at the sight of what looked to be a gold and blue fish dragon that was about as tall as him, and currently had its tail end _phasing_ through the wall behind it.

The beast stared at him with glowing blue eyes, a deep growl briefly passing by in its throat before it went around him; somehow managing to float in the air, hovering next to the man protectively.

"Heya partner." Jonas said jovially, and much to the bafflement of everyone in the room running a hand over its head; which it quickly leaned into. His visage rapidly turned serious. "Find anyone making their way here?"

The beast merely shook its head while giving a deep grunt. Jonas' eyes narrowed in thought.

"...Alright." He said after a couple of moments. "I'm sorry to ask more of you Draco, but would you kindly keep an eye out for the time being?"

The newly named Draco gave a small roar of acknowledgment, taking to the air and phasing through one of the walls while the other two occupants stared on dumbstruck.

"What. Was that?" Amber asked after half a minute.

"My dragon, Draco." He answered with a large toothy smile.

"Looked a helluva lot like a Grimm if you ignore its colors."

"He's not a Grimm." Jonas amended, seemingly miffed. "He's one of my guardians, though I call him Draco for the sake of simplicity. Aids me in battle whenever I summon him."

"But where did he-?"

" _Magic_." Jonas grandly cut in, arms akimbo. Though it wasn't appropriate for the mood, Amber couldn't stop the giggles. The way he was acting was beyond hammy. The man grinned at her reaction and gave her a wink, to which she lightly blushed. Eventually the moment passed, and now that she had calmed down she was able to think things through a little more clearly.

' _Did he do that just to calm me down?'_ She idly wondered for a moment, eventually asking another question on her mind. "Jonas…h-how did you know I was a Maiden?"

"Is that what you call yourself?" He replied with curiosity, making her jaw drop. "Huh...wonder where that term came from?"

"Only women were ever able to use magic, kid." Qrow answered. He couldn't help but wonder if all this was a dream from getting smashed. "How'd you not know that?"

"Yeah, I kinda assumed you learned about us through the story of the maidens." Amber quipped. He scratched the back of his head as he cracked a crooked smile

"its a long, _long_ story." Jonas chuckled uncomfortably. "Not one I'd like to tell under the current circumstances if you don't mind. But in regards to your first question, I have to ask…When I came into the room, did you happen to feel anything odd?"

"Huh? Oh, um..." She replied dumbly. Only one thing was notable thinking back on it, and even then she didn't think much of it. "Just a tingling sensation running down my back."

The man gave a smile in reply much to her consternation. She recalled the memory again to look for the answer, bit It was only after ten or so seconds that it finally clicked.

"...No way."

"Very much 'way'." He laughed.

"Wait a sec, you mean _that's_ how you knew she could use magic?" Qrow pried.

"Pretty much. Though admittedly the feeling can differ for others; like me for instance. I...well I get a weird feeling in my eyes." Jonas grinned, inwardly sniggering at an inside joke neither of them knew about. "Something to note though. Not everyone is adept at sensing another magic user; it varies from person to person."

"You _really_ can't tell anyone else Jonas. This is important." Amber pleaded.

"You think I hadn't clued into that myself?" He retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Until now I hadn't met another individual who could wield magic like I can, and just as I finally found one they're laying in a heap on the edge of death with their soul broken in half. You really think I'd want to go off spouting about my abilities right now after what occurred today?"

"...Okay, good point." Amber sighed with relief, feeling as if some of the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Qrow looked to have some of the tension leave his body as he watched on. A blush returned on her face at Jonas' laughter. "It's not funny!"

"Its a _little_ funny. Frankly I'm amazed you didn't think of that yourself as soon as you learned about my magic."

She simply grumbled in response, looking away with puffed cheeks in embarrassment and annoyance much to his continued amusement. Minutes passed in silence while she wandered in her mind.

"Hey...you said something about apprentices, mages and whatnot. What did you mean by that?"

"They're differing ranks in the magical order." Jonas explained. "From what I can feel, you yourself are at the level of Apprentice with your mana capacity. Though I must admit, if that lightning bolt that came down from where you were was your doing, you must have incredible mana control."

"Um...I'm sorry, 'mana control'?" She inquired.

And for the first time since their conversation began did he look truly confounded; his faced twisted in confusion. Qrow and Amber stared at one another, wondering what was going on and what 'Mana Control' was.

After a bit he glanced at her worriedly. "Alright, how about 'Mana Pool', or 'Mana Capacity'? Those ring any bells?" Both she and Qrow shook their heads in the negative. Sweat started to build on his brow. "How about 'Magic Instability' or 'Magic Degeneration'?" Again they gave a no in reply, and he began to look on the cusp of a panic attack. He asked in a quiet voice. "...'Primary Elements'?"

He cradled his head in his hands when they stared at him blankly, looking as if the end of the world was nigh. The stranger took deep breaths in an attempt to clear his mind, and after half a minute he looked at her as if she were an enigma.

"Right, I seem to be missing a great deal of information." He concluded. "Can you to inform me on what a 'Maiden' is exactly?"

Amber blinked, staring at him before looking towards Qrow for a split second. All she got was a shrug in response.

She gave him a tired grin. "Its a long story."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

* * *

The sound of thunder rolled by while Ozpin sat in his desk, knee-deep in his own personal hell that was legal proceedings for hosting the Vytal Festival in Vale for the coming year. Such an honor hadn't been received in over a decade, what with the ongoing decline in Vales economic front. With imported goods coming in from Mistral, Dust and technology from Atlas, and unerring Hunters from Vacuo, this left Vale in a tenuous position since they couldn't keep up.

This also meant that often times Vale happened to host the most hunters due to the lack of work being forwarded to them from outside the kingdom, but even that could become a danger. Deterioration of ones skills was inevitable without anything challenging, and with the growing army of hunters in the technologically driven atlas and the hardy from Vacuo, in a generation or two the continued growth of Vale-grown hunters would become moot, which would put the kingdom in danger if an actual challenge happened to make its way here.

Hosting the festival here was something he hoped would ease some of the damage. He wanted the students of Beacon to win of course as any headmaster would, but the losses some of them would undoubtedly face would help to push them into growing stronger. And even if they left Vale to look for more work in the other kingdoms, at the very least they'll be that much more prepared for it despite them leaving Vale that much more destitute.

The sound of a lightning crack brought him out of his hypnosis. He stretched in his seat, and winced as his spine cracked back into place. A groan passed his lips, and he slumped on his desk. There _had_ to be a better way to solve this problem than dealing with all of this loathsome paperwork!

The moment was cut short however, and Ozpin went ramrod straight at the sound of the elevator arriving at his floor. His body relaxed slightly when his deputy headmistress stepped out, though from the look of her stature…

"...You certainly look out of sorts." She lightly commented, noting the over-stacked table. Small groans could be heard whenever he shifted his weight. He gave her a tired grin.

"Yes, well, small pains for better rewards I suppose. Such is the oath of a hunter." Ozpin answered. "To its credit, I've recently received a call from the council."

She was unable to hide the grimace on her normally stoic exterior, much to her boss's enjoyment. "I take it there were a great deal of veiled insults thrown at one another?"

"Surprisingly not the case this time." He amended lightly, getting a raised eyebrow in response. "I was notified that my request for the Vytal festival to be hosted in Vale in the coming year was accepted."

All she replied with was a small "Oh.". Surprise was clearly etched on her face. Eventually she managed to get her bearings and regain her usual frown. Her eyes narrowed. "I assume there were conditions involved?"

"As always." He shrugged. "As I expected, while they will pay for the festivities, were required to pay any and all fees for the running and maintenance of the coliseum itself."

" _What?!_ " She half-shouted. Ozpin had half a mind to cover his ears. "Are they _insane_?! The costs of running the Amity Coliseum is enough to cover everything else a hundred times over! Why would-"

"Glynda, I've been asking for the competition to be hosted here for _years_." Ozpin dryly cut in. "They finally decided that if I wanted the competition in Vale so badly, I could fund everything related to its function."

"Don't they realize that this is for the benefit of Vale?" She asked incredulously.

His expression remained neutral. "I imagine they did, but my continued nagging left them with a viable excuse they could use against me in court to not have to pay a single lien."

Glynda growled, quietly throwing insults that, in his opinion, should never be uttered to another lest they cause heart attacks or ulcers. A sigh eventually passed her lips, her head slumping forward in resignation. He felt much the same way honestly. "This is going to put a heavy dent in our budget for the next few years."

"Indeed. I have been making a draft of certain changes to get ahead on that." He reached into one of his drawers, pulling out a small bundle of papers packed to the brim with small yet still legible writing and handed it to his colleague. He was anything if not efficient. "Peter will have his live Grimm examinations toned down significantly-"

"Thank the gods."

"-While Bart will face a significant drop of artifacts received on loan from the local museum. Field trips will sadly have to be died down in favor of lessons related to those subjects."

"Is that wise?" She asked him worriedly. As much as she might look like a teacher just barely tolerating your continued existence, she truly did care for her charges. He would have cracked a smile if the situation weren't so serious.

"Sadly yes. It's not what I want, nor what some of the more amiable students would want, but if we wish to still have Beacon running by the end of next year we'll need to cut costs on certain necessities. At the very least, having the event hosted here will help our hunters to grow enough to mitigate some of the damage."

"Refusing to back Port and Bart's hobbies is a good start. I understand that much. But surely there are others that we can cut funding on?" She opposed. Ozpin gave her a long look.

"...I'm not losing my coffee supply."

"I wasn't referring to your caffeine!" She replied irately. "It's the only thing that keeps both you and Bart, who arguably has a worse addiction to the drink than you do, in some semblance of control!"

"Then by all means." He said tonelessly. "If you can come up with your own outline to cover the costs of running beacon for the next few years that gives us a viable option while still creating proper huntsmen, I will gladly sign off on it."

"If that's what it takes." She grumbled, quietly muttering about more paperwork being added onto her load. Ozpin inwardly smiled. While she detested paperwork as much as he did she was leagues above him in dealing with it. She had a way of finding loopholes both unwanted or otherwise in highly condensed contracts, as well as creating her own that often leaned more in favor of the school while still maintaining the appearance of equal footing. It was moments like this that reminded him how glad he was to have signed her on as his deputy.

"I take it there's a reason you came here other than to hear me talk?" He regained her attention as he returned to his arduous task.

She nodded, her visage turning serious. "We received a message from Qrow a few minutes ago before we lost the connection in the storm. It's…it's not good."

Ozpin froze in his writing, but didn't look up.

"How so?"

Glynda chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds.

"...The fall maiden was attacked before Qrow could get to her." She had his full attention now, his eyes meeting hers with a shine that would've made lesser men uncomfortable. "From what he learned, her soul was torn in half."

Ozpin stared at her in silence, quietly processing the ramifications of such an act. He didn't need to guess who it was that attacked them and caused such an atrocity. Not not only have their enemies managed to locate one who was constantly on the move, they even managed subjugate her and ripped her soul in twain.

' _So shes finally begun to move.'_ He whispered in his mind. Ozpin focused towards her. "What is her status?"

"Surprisingly, up and about. Though she does appear to be tired if the picture Qrow sent me is any indication."

"...Shes managing to operate on half of her soul?" He asked with no small amount of shock.

She shook her head. "From what Qrow was telling me, a passerby came to their aid and managed to recover the other half from her attacker through a means he had no knowledge of."

Now _that_ brought a raised brow to his face. He had never heard of one who could manage such a thing in the past, and he had read up on a lot of the script that was maintained from headmaster to headmaster in the last four-hundred years; something he was immediately brought up to speed on when he took the position. There was never any mention of repairing the soul in any of what he read, though he'd need to double check to be sure.

"Did they happen to get the name of the individual?"

"Jonas Everblue. And if what he said is to be believed he is also the indomitable warrior."

Ozpin mumbled to himself. The warrior's history was an active interest with everyone in the order due to the problems he faced. His solutions to them were borderline supernatural from what everyone was informed of, so they couldn't help but wonder who the individual was. He looked toward her.

"Has he taken any photos of them?"

Glynda nodded, handing her scroll over to him. Leaning in, he found himself staring at the figure of a young man barely in his twenties. From the angle he noted the armor both on the arms below the shoulders and underneath the coat and his armored boots and legs; all of which looked to have been carefully crafted for the most coverage while keeping as light as possible. This showed he had combat experience, though to what degree he couldn't say without more information.

"Any other information on them?" Ozpin took a sip from his coffee.

"He's currently sitting in the middle of a conversation between them all, and promised to message us back when he's able to reconnect through the storm." She shifted her glasses, which Ozpin noted since she only ever did so whenever she was anxious about something. Her eyes stared directly into his. "What really worries me is that somehow, this man figured out she was able to wield magic."

"So our theories were correct then." He said quietly. His volume quickly returned to normal. "Do we know if any of the other maidens were attacked at any point?"

"No, we've looked into it." She denied. "There's something else Qrow mentioned however. If what he said is true, then the powers he wields are as strong as all four of the maidens put together."

His eyes widened minutely, though to anyone else, they would've thought he had a revelation.

"You're absolutely certain of this?"

"Ozpin, during the entire conversation between him and I, Qrow had not once pressed the wrong key in a drunken typo like he normally does. I think he's been _sober_ for all of their chat."

Gently, he placed his pen onto the table and stood, walking towards his clock-tower window. A long, extended silence reigned in the room with a terrible intensity; enough to make even his colleague slightly uncomfortable.

"Ozpin, are you alright?" She asked with a hint of concern.

"...The game has changed completely." He announced, his voice echoing throughout the room. Swallowing silently, Glynda nodded. "If what he said is to be believed..."

He turned, staring at her with an intensity that would make the most experienced veteran stop and stare.

"We may be looking at one comparable to the hermit himself."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

* * *

"So, to put it simply...some random old dude in the middle of nowhere was taught the meaning of living by four girls who, for some reason, decided to meet up at the front of his house out of pure happenstance. And somehow, after said events, he split his powers into four pieces and gave it to them." He received a nod. "And as an added bonus, said powers jump from host to host; whether or not its at random or by the previous hosts choosing by keeping an individual, who has to be female, in their mind at the time of their death. Do I have this right?"

"Yup." Qrow replied, popping the p. "Pretty incredible right?"

"Well, its…in the top ten, that's for sure."

"Whoa, wait a second, you mean this _isn't_ the weirdest thing you've heard?" Amber asked disbelievingly.

"Seven words; the Crimson and Corruption, and it's denizens." Jonas blandly replied.

"Do we wanna know?" Qrow questioned, perturbed.

"Probably not. Though to be fair that's probably my bias talking." He grinned a tired grin.

"So then why did you look so confused when we didn't understand any of the words we were saying?" Amber asked.

"Mostly because I was amazed that none of you maidens had accidentally blown yourselves to bits at any point throughout the generations."

"...'Blown up'?" Qrow looked at him with no small amount of concern.

"Well normally, if you don't have proper control of your emotions when you enter the rank of apprentice, let alone the latter end of it like where Amber and presumably the rest of the maidens are, when their emotions run wild they kind of...explode. Rather violently at that. Depending on the size of their mana pool and how much they still have contained within them at the time of detonation, the radius can span anywhere from a small section of a two story house to several city blocks."

"Are you sure about that?" They looked at him skeptically.

"Absolutely, though I do have a theory for why that hasn't happened if you're up for hearing it." Receiving nods he continued. "All things considered, the old man was an Arch. A reclusive one to be sure, but one who was highly knowledgeable. Now while I get most knowledge of magic's been lost to the annals of time, I think he realized just how dangerous it could be if it were left alone, what with his own experiences with it, so the good moneys on him putting in a safeguard to make sure instability would never occur; in the form of splintering off a small portion of his own soul in a new form of magic of his own creation to regulate and control it for you."

"Wait, what?" Amber stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Well, how else would succession occur? When a magician dies their magic, capacity and everything else goes with them, so it shouldn't be possible for him to just hand it to you normally, nor pass it down or stop an untrained individual from going boom. It's the only logical explanation; when it comes down to magic anyway."

"So basically what you're saying is what we already know; magic, magic and, oh hey would ya look at that, more magic." Qrow cut in.

"You'd be surprised at how often magic is the answer." Jonas laughed. "Honestly with half of the shit I've seen on this world, my first assumption is 'Was this a magic-related event' if the answer isn't obvious from the get go."

A comfortable lull took over the room as the two started at him, unbelieving. He couldn't blame them, especially after their reactions to the magical definitions he spouted earlier. If his theory held true, they wouldn't have needed to care since they'd already have the control of an Arch due to the fragments.

It also presented an interesting opportunity. Since it appeared through her status that her magic was held in a separate container, what would happen if she grew her own all the way? She'd hit a point beyond anything he had already reached in terms of raw power. And with the inherent skills in wielding it?

That was a very scary thought; more so if their magic goes along with the succession.

He figured he'd keep that to himself for the time being, at least until he made sure. With the power being given at random at the time of death, the question remained on the people in particular. It was pretty unlikely they'd be as restrained with their abilities as he was.

Step back and observe. See what they and the world of remnant do first before coming to that conclusion.

Despite the nagging feeling in his head at any rate.

' _Bloody M.E.P. Clause.'_

Jonas stretched in his seat, giving a small yawn before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Well, at any rate I think I'll hop outside again for the time being." He finally spoke with a dreary sigh, breaking the calm. "Your friends will be here soon, if the tapping I heard coming from Qrow's scroll is accurate."

"You heard all that?" Qrow said with a raised brow.

"I'd make a pretty lousy survivor if I didn't my friend." He smirked at him as he stood.

"Wait, one last question." Amber quickly cut in, grabbing his attention. "Where do you intend on going after this?"

"Well really I've been wandering around for the most part, hopping from place to place. Already found _quite_ a few amazing things already." He quipped with a knowing grin. "I'll eventually make my way to Vale, though I have no clue how long that'll be. Probably a few months yet, though that's dependent of whether or not I can take a break for once and catch a ride on a train."

"Mind paying a visit to Beacon when you get there? My boss would want a word with you." Qrow asked.

"Sure, why not." He shrugged in reply. "I'll send an unorthodox message when I get there. Just gotta think up a good one."

"Uh-huh." Qrow grunted. "Just don't kill anyone."

Jonas grinned on his way to the exit. "It was a pleasure talking to you both. If either of you need me, don't hesitate to come get me."

The rain poured on him as he walked out the door. The cacophony worked to soothe his rattled nerves. Though he believed he hid it well enough from them with his acting, underneath the mask he was just as terrified of what he saw occur on that pathway.

If they manage to figure out he has the same powers as these maidens, would they simply come after him? Or was there something specific they needed the four of them for? Something they neglected to mention? Not that he could blame them. He _was_ an unknown who started spouting apparent secrets In any case, it looked like the relaxation he was hoping for was dashed for the time being until he dealt with their enemy; whoever that might be. Shame too. He was looking forward to simply exploring the world before retiring somewhere nice. Lord knows hes earned the right to it.

Making it to the guard-house he made; which was simply a roof propped up on wooden support beams, he sat himself down on its wooden floor. Making a cursory glance at his surroundings for a second, he returned to his thoughts.

Luckily _this time_ he had the luxury of being able to plan ahead. His foes likely didn't know of his magic or knowledge of the supernatural, so he'd be able to spot them easily if they tried to pull any stunts. However, that was _only_ for the supernatural. When it came down to the worlds current state in technology and the like; well, he was pretty much hopeless in that regard.

He really needed to get a scroll of his own and just browse the internet for information on Remnant. Its history, technology, sciences; whatever he could find really. Its racial disputes at least were apparent to him, but he's likely only seen the bare bones of it so far.

Jonas sighed as he scratched the back of his head irritably. Being this far out from the capital, which seemed to hold the tech and info he needed, wasn't doing him any favors. Despite having been here for over seven months at this point, he had learned very little during that. And usually it was from word of mouth. That's not to say he was being negligent. Rather, the problem lay in the lack of any reading material this far out

He'd have to start making a beeline straight to Vale. Fortunately he had his wings and magic to make the trip somewhat bearable, but it might be better to see if he could finish making the upgrades to the hoverboard he'd been building over the months. It might fly quicker than he could on his own, not to mention it'd be a damn sight more discreet than his wings would be. It would probably hamper him more than it would help in terms of Faunus racism; no offense intended to them.

…

Now that he thought about it, was there any real need to be discreet?

An interesting idea passed through Jonas' head that made him grin. He pushed the thought into the back of his mind. Couldn't let his mind get away from him at such a bad time. One thing was certain however.

Whatever plan he chose to take, he was gonna need a helluva lot of Lien to get it going.

And maybe some backup too. Wouldn't that be surprising.

' _Wonder if there's any Demon Altars around here?'_

* * *

 _ **Well, this took a bit to make.**_

 _ **Apologies for the length of time it took here, but I had to make sure to craft Amber properly, since she's mostly just a plot tool meant to die in canon.**_

 _ **I think the hardest part for me in writing right now is fleshing the characters out and making them appear more human.  
Not to mention my word usage.**_

 _ **But anyway, I'm getting carried away.**_

 _ **Next chapters an interlude. Just a heads up.**_


	8. Interlude

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Interlude**

* * *

 _ **Several Hours Later...**_

* * *

It was in Ozpins personal opinion that the port for dropships was at its most busy during the night. Such a thought did not come without good reason.

The cacophony of Bullheads and small scale airships coming and going turned into background noise as they dropped their cargo. Ranging from foodstuffs, eccentric articles of clothing, school materials and letters from home to ammo, dust and the like, one could have nearly everything bar illegal narcotics or the like. There was a great flurry of movement as people came and went in absolute silence under the surrounding lamps and the glow of the moon, which was currently showed its whole side. The storm that had raged hours earlier had finally dissipated late into the night. Both Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood within the center of the docks, waiting for a special cargo to arrive.

Along with them stood their old colleague, James Ironwood, the current acting general of the atlesian army, dressed to the nines in the atlas generals formal attire and jacket; which were colored white and gray, with a grayish blue vest and black sweater with a red necktie, along with regalia indicative of his rank placed on the collar of his uniform. His graying hair was cleanly cut and combed, giving the look of a man with all his affairs in order. His revolver lay holstered on his belt by his right hand for quick draw.

With him was Winter Schnee; a specialist within his forces that had already graduated from Atlas Academy with honors, and currently one who was trusted enough by him to be part of their inner circle, though on a minimal basis for the time being until they got to know her and her goals. Her outfit consisted of a lightly modified military uniform similar to the general's. Long gray boots were held aloft by garters placed over her white pants, and her jacket's arms were split open from the shoulder, all the way down to the top of her forearms. The rest of the jacket, much to his continued confusion, was closed from the belt and collar, leaving most of her body exposed; showing the blue dress shirt that lay underneath. Her saber was sheathed on her hip, and her hair was tied neatly in a bun on the left side of her head; with a small ringlet running down past her ear and her bangs cupping the right side of her face.

Both had flown in on one of their high-speed bullheads when Ozpin was able to inform them of the incident. James was moments away from bringing in a small fleet of ships to begin search and rescue, but he managed to talk him down into simply letting him send in one of his own ships for pickup under the pretense of keeping their cover. Unfortunately the bullhead he had sent out had been significantly delayed due to the storm and the grimm, falling a few hours behind and further aggravating the general.

Truthfully he was just glad to be able to stop yet another of the generals paranoia trips. He was a good man at heart, but when reason evaded him he had the tendency to let his thoughts run off. Not that it was unjustified mind you; his actions _had_ saved more than his fair share of civilians. But his inability to disassociate himself from the possibilities made him dangerous at times; both in his arrogance and his tendency to go overboard from certain situations. They were still working on dealing with that, even after the last several years he had been made headmaster of Atlas Academy.

"You're _sure_ they're on their way here?" Ironwood questioned, staring at his old friend with a quizzical brow. He was anything if not polite, so long as his ego wasn't terribly bruised.

"We received word of their entry into Vale airspace James. It won't be long now. Just be patient." Glynda chided him, looking back towards the clipboard in her hand. She periodically wrote in a percentage of what could be deducted from certain facilities in the school. Medical had to be left alone; what with a student or three being sent down to the nurses office every few days after a sparring session taken too far. Food _could_ be minimized to a degree...

Ozpin grinned as he watched her from the corner of his eye. It hadn't even been twelve hours before she delved into their budget. That wasn't to say she put the rest of her paperwork on hold, but rather double-timed to finish it so she could solely focus on their current problem. He would've given her a raise, but it was just as likely she'd say no to it on the grounds of already having a pretty substantial income from being a professor, not including being deputy headmistress. That's not to say that Peter or Bart weren't attentive in their own right, but the amount of paperwork she did made theirs look grossly pale in comparison.

If she ever retired during their tenure, they were well and truly _doomed_.

He returned his focus towards the sky at the sound of an incoming bullhead, which looked to be coming in for a landing. The group walked towards the landing pad, coming to a stop several feet away from the jet. Four small legs sprouted from its belly, hitting the ground with an audible thump as a ramp extended from the opening side door, showing both Qrow, who looked little worse for wear.

Not so much for Amber. Badly restrained gasps and narrowed eyes echoed out at the sight of the dark scars marring her face, to say nothing of the pale complexion being in stark contrast to her normally light brown skin. She looked to be completely exhausted; her eyes having half-developed bags underneath them, and the way she wobbled just slightly as she walked helped to point in that direction. The clothing, bracer, pauldron, greaves and cloak she wore were ruffled and covered in dirt stains.

It didn't surprise him when Glynda was the first to move, speed walking towards her out of barely concealed worry. Ozpin and Co followed at a more reasonable pace, making it to the edge of the ramp just as Amber and Qrow did, with Glynda lightly supporting her with a hand on her shoulder.

"How are you feeling Amber?" Ozpin asked kindly after taking a sip of his coffee. His eyes lingered on her scars with concern, and a small amount of interest.

"Absolutely exhausted despite sleeping for the last several hours." She tiredly grinned. "Little sore too."

"You certainly look a little worse for wear." He quipped, getting a eye-roll in return. "I'll have a room prepared for you in the teacher's wing. However, I do stress that you visit our infirmary for a quick check-up before you rest for the night."

" _After_ we debrief her." James quickly cut in. He looked indifferent to the small glare Ozpin gave him behind his glasses. "The sooner we can get to work on finding her attackers, as well as their helper, the better off we will all be in the long run."

"James, for the last time, we don't know if Jonas is working with them!" Glynda retorted sharply, earning a small wince from him. "Why in the world would he fix the damage they caused if he was?"

"Mind if we save this little chat for somewhere a little more secluded?" Qrow deftly cut in. He groaned as his spine let loose a few audible pops when he stretched. "There's ears everywhere."

"Indeed. Though I reserve the right to leave the decision to you, Amber." The beacon headmaster looked toward her. "You're more than welcome to leave this be for another day if you are not feeling up to it."

She looked to the ground in thought for a brief moment, her brows furrowed. They gave a vexed sigh. "May as well get this over with..."

* * *

"And you're absolutely certain he can use magic?"

"General Ironwood, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been party to the signs." She confirmed without hesitation. "That's not mentioning that he holds power equal to all four of us maidens...or at least, it certainly looks like it."

"There is the possibility he's lying to us." Winter countered. "We can't take everything he says at face value; not with the recent turn of events. We cannot afford to rule out anything."

"Winter does bear a fair point." Ozpin said, however reluctantly. "We know very little about this Jonas individual, or his goals. With everything that's occurred we can't simply pass over the likelihood of his involvement with this group, or a third party we know nothing of."

"...I don't think he is." Amber quietly cut in, gaining everyone's attention. "With them, I mean. The entire time we were talking with him Jonas seemed far too relaxed for it to be a trick. He looked genuinely relieved to see me awake."

"He could be acting." The general argued. "Its an age old tactic to manipulate your foes."

"Gotta agree with her Jimmy, don't really think he's bluffing." Qrow affirmed. He smirked when he scowled at him. "Kid seemed plenty uncomfortable when we asked him a few questions, but when he was helping us out or explaining something related to the attack or Amber's powers there was no doubt or delay in anything he did." He shrugged. "Not to mention the whole dragon thing. Coulda not called it if he was really after her. Sent it to follow us all the way back here to gather any info he needed without us being any the wiser, since the damned thing can phase through solid objects. But he didn't. Trust me, I checked."

"And how do we know you didn't imagine the whole thing up?" Winter snorted derisively. "You're often drunk enough that we need to consider that."

"Maybe because I finished my only flask long before Amber woke up the first time after having her soul split?" Qrow ground out.

"I saw the same thing Winter." Amber interjected. "He's telling the truth. He had a dragon for a companion; though it was rather strange looking."

Silence took over the room as everyone retreated into their thoughts, and while some of them knew better from meeting him, the others minds fell into darker territory; if the pensive looks both Ironwood and Winter were a clue. Both Glynda and even himself couldn't help it either. The secrets their inner circle carried was hidden since before the official founding of the huntsmen academies. For over a hundred years this knowledge was kept secret, and in a single day not just one, but possibly two different groups also knew of their existence; with one knowing potentially even more than they.

His own powers were cause for concern. Being able to wield the powers of the maidens, and as a male no less, while being able to stay under the radar long enough to reach what they believed was the pinnacle of magic; the same level that the hermit himself once stood upon in power alone. That alone was a frightening thought. Not to mention his apparent ability to hold on to, take out and put away items out of thin air. What else could that man be carrying on him?

There was also his spiel about all the different ways he could have killed both Qrow and Amber with relative ease, but that was a can of worms he didn't really want to open; not without more information.

The intensity permeating the area was thick enough to cut through. He could already see the gears turning in both James and his protege, their eyebrows furrowed together, and only growing tighter with every scenario they thought of. Though they didn't show it, both Glynda and Qrow weren't too far off from that themselves, looking towards the ground in carefully disguised worry. The only one who didn't seem affected by them was Amber, whose eyes were wandering between them all in concern.

"In any case, you two would know best what they're like." Ozpin cut into the strained silence. "Is there anything you might have missed?"

"Not that I can think of." Qrow shrugged. Their eyes wandered to Amber, who looked pensive. As if she were unsure about something.

"Is everything alright Amber?" Ozpin asked. She blinked, looking to have come back to reality, before her eyes wandered to his.

"Nothing its just..." She shook her head. "Nothing, nevermind."

"If you think it might help us learn more about Jonas, then by all means." He said gently. Her eyes wandered towards him again, before she broke out in a light blush.

"...After I was knocked out by that girl and her group, I...had a strange dream." She talked just loud enough to be heard.

"Dream?"

"Mm." She grunted. "I honestly didn't think much of it, but I've had the same dream three times now. One after my soul soul got torn, another after our conversation, and again on the ride back here."

The other occupants looked at one another curiously. Ozpin could understand why she wouldn't mention it, what with the possibility of it merely being a figment of her own imagination. But with recent events, anything and everything needed to be taken into account.

"And what was this dream about by chance?" He finally asked.

"...It always started out the same...with fire and ash. Every time I wake I'm surrounded in an endless inferno, yet the sky full of falling ash above me is always pitch black. Over the crackling of the flames I could faintly hear the sound of screams of terror and anguish in the distance. Whenever I tried to follow the sounds to try and help whoever was in danger the flames lashed out like whips, grabbing me from my wrists and ankles before it wrenched me inside."

She shuddered a bit before she continued, though not without noticing the concerned expression coming from Professor Goodwitch. "Next thing I know, I'm being held above that hell with my body splayed out, and my arms and legs feel like they're turning to charcoal from the heat. I can see a dark clawed hand reaching out from the dark sky." Amber started to shiver, and at that point Glynda quickly made her way over to the disturbed woman. "I try to fight, to free myself from my fiery shackles...but Its not enough...never enough. The hand pierces right through my body, and i scream as it starts to dig around; as if its looking for something. I call out for someone, _anyone_ to save me..."

"Its alright if you want to stop miss tawny." The deputy gently rubbed her shoulders. "No one would begrudge you for doing so."

"No, no...its alright." She shook her head, giving her a tired, but genuine smile. "Besides, that was the worst of it."

Amber looked at Ozpin. "...Someone heard me in the dark, because next thing I know, I hear the sound of water rushing towards me. I look over, and low and behold, Its an utterly massive, glowing tsunami."

"Huh...that might've been the holy water the guy used to get your other half back from that black-haired chick." Qrow commented.

"That's what I think too." Amber remarked. "It tore through the flames, and when it reached the hand, I could hear this unholy screaming coming from its owner. Free of my chains I fall, right into the water." She chuckled. "Thought I was going to drown, but shortly after taking a breath from the force of the fall I could breathe somehow. And when I opened my eyes...I realized I was swimming in an ocean full of stars. Right after that...I wake up."

The room was silent. Some of the occupants, save Ozpin, Ironwood and Qrow, blinked at her owlishly. Though he wasn't sure about both of his comrades, he could guess why wouldn't think much of it, let alone ask. Ozpin wasn't a complete stranger to prophetic dreams though. Her ordeal was highly unusual, and everything and everyone involved was of a class he couldn't write off without further info.

Still though, a field of stars within an ocean? He hadn't a clue what that might've referenced. It could have been the holy water the man used to release her, or the essence of the man himself, or a mixture of both. He wasn't quite sure. The other two were clear as day; with the dark hand reminiscent of the grimm if one considers the soul-stealing insect, and the flames possibly representing the personality of the individual who attempted to take her powers for their own.

If only they had an image of their face to go along with it, things would be so much easier. Sadly it appeared one of the three had a semblance that was able to make them hallucinate; make them see whatever the controller wanted them to see, as was evident with Amber's story about the crying child.

' _So many unknowns in such a short span of time...'_ He thought with a sigh. "Is there anything else you might have missed miss tawny?"

"Nothing comes to mind." She replied tiredly, a yawn moving past her lips.

"Then I recommend bed-rest for the time being. It certainly wouldn't be lost on you. You can visit the infirmary in the afternoon after you've had time to get some proper sleep."

"Wouldn't mind that." She grinned, standing with a slight wobble. Glynda was quickly by her side.

"I'll see to it she has everything she needs." The deputy said in a tone that brooked no argument as she stood by her side, gently leading her towards the elevator.

Ozpin sighed when the doors closed, leaning back into his seat. That whole conversation had been surprisingly tense, and while they had received a good deal in information, most of it left more questions than they previously had.

Those words he had said in his confusion for instance. What exactly did they mean? Mana Instability? Mana Degeneration? Primary Elements? So much was left up in the air that they had no answers to. They certainly weren't in the texts, so that just left talking with him in a few months time.

 _If_ he came to talk anyway.

"This is worrying..." James finally entered the conversation, voice laced with no small amount of concern.

"What, the dream, the three who attacked her, or the one who helped us?" Qrow asked sarcastically.

"I'm being serious Qrow!" He snapped. "We know next to nothing about them, and despite the mans willingness to explain certain subjects, the fact that he chose to conceal his background from us is a major cause for concern!"

"And what is it you propose, James?" Ozpin looked him in the eyes, Neither breaking their staring contest.

"I want to send a contingent of my troops to where he was last sighted and bring him back to atlas. I intend to uncover the truth."

"Spoken like a true atlesian." Qrow drawled. "If ya can't understand something, attempt to beat it into submission. Just like the faunus."

"And what would you suggest Qrow?" Both he and Winter glared at him, his slight not going unoticed.

"Let him come here on his own time." He shrugged. "He said it himself, it's gonna take a couple a months for him to get down here. Gives us plenty of time to prepare." Qrow gave him a pointed stare, something that was rather irregular coming from the man. "Better plan than yours is; which is _amazingly_ stupid might I add."

"What was that?!" Winter sneered. Her hand laid upon her hilt, gripped tightly.

"Don't know if you heard ice queen-" She gave an indignant yelp in protest. "-but this is a guy who proclaimed that he had power equal to the hermit himself. Now I'll admit that I'm a little skeptical of that, but he still showed that he had the powers of a maiden, and to a greater degree; considering all the terms he spouted that we know jack-shit about; _if_ he's being honest with us that is."

"Not to mention how easily he disarmed you with abilities similar to our dear Professor Goodwitch." Ozpin nodded. "There are a great many unknowns about this man. We know next to nothing about him beyond our theories. Attempting a head-on attack against him this early would be foolish without more foreknowledge."

James looked to him with a small amount of irritation and disappointment.

"The fact that he's willing to make the effort to talk to us, and the chance of him being the indomitable warrior we've been trying to locate is good enough reason to leave him be for now. Until we know more about him and his objective, it would be best to simply let him make his way here on his own time. It will give us the time to shore up our own defenses and prepare for his arrival."

"Not to mention if we went with your plan and attacked him, and everything he said was the truth, then we'd be putting all of vale and its surrounding towns at risk of retaliation." Qrow pointed out. "Now I don't know about the two of you, but I'd rather not piss off the possible second coming if I can help it."

The generals eyed wandered between them for several moments, before he let out a small, quiet sigh.

"Very well." He said after a few seconds of silence. He looked to be disgruntled at being shut down so easily, no doubt to Qrows great enjoyment. "I'll defer to you on this Ozpin, if you truly think this is the best option to take."

"I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't think it was, old friend." Ozpin nodded. His eyes wandered to their scout. "I apologize for having to ask more of you Qrow, but would you continue to watch over Amber for the time being? Sufficed to say, after everything that's happened, I'd rather not leave her unguarded for the time being; at least not until she has fully recovered."

"You got it. Though if you don't mind, I'm gonna go hit the local bars. Need a frickin drink." He grunted. "Need to fill my flask too."

At the headmasters nod Qrow turned and left the room, his walk devoid of the usual sloppy movements. James quietly grumbled as the elevator doors closed.

"Honestly, how a man like him is still a huntsman is beyond me."

"You know as well as I why he drinks so much James." Ozpin gave him a firm glance.

"Drinking his sorrows away doesn't solve anything Ozpin." He stated. "I understand his semblance can be as much a detriment to his allies as his enemies, but what happened a decade ago couldn't have been his fault. He was well and far away from wherever Summer vanished from; impossible for his own powers to have influenced her significantly. He shouldn't need to drink himself into an early grave for something out of his control."

"We all deal with our loss differently James. Both you and I know this better than anyone else here. As much as what transpired all those years ago was through no fault of our own, we can't help but place blame on ourselves. Gods know I still do."

The general nodded at that. Even decades after the events of Mountain Glenn they still haunted them to this day; wondering if they couldn't have done more to stem the death and destruction that came in the way of civilians, and the path they took to save as many lives as they could at the cost of so many others.

The general shook the gloom off of him. "In any case, what miss tawny told us about the other three is rather disturbing; and that's not including the whole 'Dark Magic' business that man was talking about."

"It's quite a shame that both Qrow and Amber couldn't see their faces." Ozpin gave a small hum of acknowledgement while sipping his drink. "They even managed to block out the name that man shouted out. Whoever did this was resourceful enough to find an individual who is both able and willing to use some form of illusory semblance."

"And it does us little good when they're able to change their clothing and hair color, which is the extent of everything we currently have on them besides their weaponry." James grunted in annoyance. "Quite the professionals in their field, whoever they are."

"Yes...they are." Ozpin muttered to himself, his fingers cradled together in thought.

"In any case, I'll be heading to the CCT tower for the time being. See if I can't dig anything up on her attackers based off of her testimony."

"So soon, James?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Like I said, the sooner we get to work on this, the better off everyone else will be. A little lost sleep is of little consequence when we can lose so much more."

He could only nod. What else was there to say?

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

* * *

To say she was frustrated would be a _gross_ understatement to her mood. The closest she could think of would be a wrath that was close to equal to the flames of hell itself.

There she sat in an ornate meeting room, each seat but one made of bone that was crudely tied together with black cords. An ivory chandelier hung above the black and purple table laid out in the center of the room, with small crystals hanging off its ends, glowing a dim purple light. Windows covered nearly every inch of the walls, with the upper half shaped like a sideways eye. To add to the aesthetic were large black and purple crystals that jutted out of the ground between each window, most of which had a lone candle standing at the top of the tallest. The room rounded out a half oval, and at its end lay a two-tiered table made of the same material as its larger counterpart, with candles placed in a way that almost made her think it were an altar meant for prayer.

She had come so close. Enough that she had managed to gain a piece of the maidens powers. And what a feeling that had been. An electric trill ran down her back as she gained control of it, its powers running between her fingers, and for the first time in her life she had felt like she could take down any who stood against her! She felt as if she finally had control!

Then her new found power was ripped from her grasp mere moments after obtaining it.

And by an unknown no less. Whoever that blue-coated man in the mask was, he took them out systematically, and with surgical precision. Having had the time to think back and analyze the way he had fought, she had found no wasted movements when she and her group and combated him. The fact that he wielded no weapons as he tore them apart with only his bare hands served to worsen her temper, while her wandering mind aggravated her fears.

She didn't know if they knew of them and their movements beforehand or if it was by pure happenstance, but she would be a fool to think that he wouldn't keep a sharp eye out after fighting her and her kind. And while Emerald _may_ have hidden their faces with their semblance, considering the hairline fractures she obtained when he made his entrance she doubted they had gotten so lucky, though now she had fallen into a coma. The underground doctors had insisted that it was only temporary, her brain needing time to recover from the blunt force trauma it received, though she might not remember anything that occurred during the battle. Not to mention Mercury had run to the toilets as soon as they made it back to their base and hasn't left since. Last she heard before coming here was the sound of heaves and wretches, along with a smidgen of crying.

She would have found it amusing under better circumstances.

It had only been half a day and already her plans were starting to fray. Most of the current project relied upon the powers of a maiden. Without them there was very little she could do on her own, bar making herself appear as if she'd succeeded.

But there was no fooling her mistress in the end.

The chairs other than hers remained vacant, the other members of their faction currently out on their own missions. A small relief at least. They would likely have derided her on her failed mission. At this point, she truly didn't need that, lest she snap and attempt to try and end them; though in her current state, chances of her being successful were not all that high. Thus, Cinder was left in silence. The shattered moon hanging in the crimson sky her only company.

She straightened in her seat at the sound of distant, muffled footsteps. Cinder turned her head and stared at the large door that led out into the long hallway, and after a few moments they slowly opened with a small creak.

Beyond them stood her mistress, the mother of grimm herself garbed in black and red robes with two eyes embroidered on the back of her shoulderblades, forming lines that met together on her lower back in the shape of yet another eye, and a ring shaped like an insect on her right hands middle finger. Her hair was tied into a massive bun from the back, with six offshoots that were wrapped haphazardly with ribbons; some of which had small black ornaments hanging of their ends. But what exemplified her has an alien existence was her ghostly white skin, the red and purple veins that stood out in contrast, and her eyes; with their black sclera and red iris.

Which also seemed to be currently glowing slightly in carefully disguised dissapointment as she looked at her, sending a shiver down her spine. Though she knew she was safe, everyone who worked under her knew all too well what would happen if her mistress became greatly displeased. She was the replacement for the last failure after all. And none would tell her what she did to them when they earned her great ire.

A lithe black brow raised in consideration for a moment as she paused, the glow in her eyes fading somewhat as she stood in place for mere moments.

"...I sense the remnants of the maidens power-." She spoke, walking around to the head of the table, taking a seat in a chair made purely of black crystal. "Yet I do not sense the soul within you."

"Y-yes mistress, you are correct." She stammered, knowing better than to break eye-contact with her. Malice quickly filled her tone. "I had managed to obtain half of her power, if only for a moment, before it was taken from me by force."

"Oh?" Her mistress' eyes lit up again. Fortunately it wasn't directed at her. "And tell me, who was it that did this to you and yours?"

"I'm afraid I can't say for certain." Cinder said regretfully. "Though I, at the very least, have most of their looks based on their clothing and the sound of his voice, he had enough intelligence to wear a mask before confronting us. Its just as likely that he'll change his clothing in order to hide himself. The most I can say, and even this is not certain since they may have been wearing a wig, is that their hair color is brown."

"I see..." She hummed in interest. Cinder mentally sighed in relief. At the very least, her mistress' displeasure wasn't pointed her way. "Was there anything worth noting?"

She gave a slight nod, reaching into a hidden pocket in her shorts and handing her a small, folded piece of paper. One that carried the image of that cursed liquid that undid the spell meant to contain the maidens soul. Upon her unfolding the paper, she was shocked to find an expression of complete surprise dawn on her face, before it slowly vanished into cold neutrality.

"...Are you absolutely certain this is what he used?" The tone in her voice was enough to make cinder sit straight in her seat.

"Yes mistress." She gave a nod. "When he poured the contents of that bottle onto my back, I felt pain unimaginable. There was black and white lightning arcing from what I assumed to be the symbol that was supposed to house the maidens powers before it vanished. Next thing I know he's holding a ball of orange and yellow light."

"I see..." Her words dwindled, looking towards the table in thought. A disturbed quiet took over the room while Cinder sat there uncomfortably.

It had been the first time she had seen this kind of reaction from her, and considering how the rest of their group acted around her, though they might have been hiding it, she doubted they had seen anything similar. It set her on edge, making her wonder.

If this was her reaction to that glass bottle, then what about the person carrying it? What was their story?

"...Any and all movements or actions done by you or our other colleagues will go through me from hereon in." Her mistress cut into her thoughts. "Whoever this man is, he seems to be versed in the old ways to some degree."

"Mistress?"

"If this _is_ the case, and he somehow makes his way to Ozpin, if he hasn't already, then it will make it much harder to move on my own part. The rest will have to be done solely by the rest of you. But not without my permission. Am I understood?" She stared directly into her eyes, continuing only when she nodded in affirmation. "How are things running on the invasion front?"

"O-oh, well-." Cinder took a deep breath to calm her mind and body. "As it stands, I'm still waiting on Adam. Whether he accepts or not is moot, but it may take some time yet to get him on our side. As for obtaining the dust for such an invasion into Vale, we already have someone in mind to accrue the materials we need."

"Yes, I've heard. I believe his name was Roman Torchwick, correct?"

"Yes. After some _persuasion_ , he wholeheartedly accepted our deal." She continued, falling into this conversation far easier. "Until further notice he'll obtain as much dust as we need through whatever methods available to him."

"And you're sure he's the man for the job?"

"If he isn't, I can have both Mercury and Emerald make him vanish. Their abilities are more than enough to deal with someone like him."

"How are those two doing? From what I understand, they took the brunt of the physical damage." Her mistress asked in concern. That was the one thing that was odd about her. Despite her absolute hated for mankind, she held no small amount of respect for them. Perhaps it was due to dealing with them for so long while being unable to wipe them out made her consider them to be admirable warriors in their own right?

"Most of the injuries they took were only superficial, and their aura will no doubt speed up the healing process. Though it will take time to get back at the top of their game, it should be well within the month."

"I see..." She went quiet for a moment. "Very well. For the time being, you and yours should take the time to rest and recover from your ordeal. I want you to focus solely on getting Adam to join us, whether he wants to or not. We will need the manpower for the plans ahead. And whatever you do, _do not_ attempt to go after this man until I'm sure of him and his intentions."

"And how will you be dealing with him?" Cinder asked in curiosity.

Her malevolent smile and brightly glowing eyes were answer enough.

* * *

 _ **Two Months Later...**_

* * *

It was early morning in the rocky range. The wind whistled as it came and went by the mountain, giving Jonas a gentle breeze on his back while he worked. Small mutters and swears passed his wrench-filled mouth while as he tweaked his latest project, periodically looking back at a book he held down with his lowers leg so it wouldn't flip pages in the wind. Replacing the wrench with a screwdriver he gave a stubborn bolt another twist, sighing in relief as it finally gave way to his intentions. On the rocky ground lay his pet project. A thick yet hollow, half-built bracer partially filled with springs, cartridges of various types, and the framework of a round shield mount. All of it remained loose until he decided on a design he liked.

While his system allowed him the benefit of switching between weapons and carrying cargo, it had the habit of becoming moot if he wasn't given the time to jump between them. His main bar carried the benefit of being able to ignore that, but if he needed anything that wasn't there, then it was an agonizing two to three second wait in trying to find it; something he couldn't afford in the midst of combat.

So here he was, haphazardly throwing together a jack of all trades weapon made purely of Hallowed bars, and crafted with his own two hands. He only got as far as he did due to recently finding the altars he had been looking for over the past several weeks to spawn the six different ores he was looking for, not to mention getting the materials needed to forge the metals. Don't even get him started on how long it took to get the hellforge!

Though on a side note, the underworld seemed pretty quiet nowadays. There still seemed to be the occasional demon, bat or the like, but they were pretty sparse in this day and age. Before, back in the day, he couldn't go a city block without coming across one. Maybe it was because of the grimm event?

Another thing worth noting was the lien he managed to amass. The current level of metal the world of remnant operated on was a shoddy version of what they called titanium. It was a bit of an insult, really. He did a comparison of the durability of theirs and his in the form of a simple short-sword, with their version being an all time low of one thousand; the level he'd expect with cobalt or palladium. The regular kind he used was at least four times that! For being considered tied with adamantite for the rank of third strongest metal, the state of its durability was rather concerning.

Though it wasn't completely unexpected. In fairness to them, a great deal of time had passed since the era he lived in; a couple of eras in fact. Those metals he released into the world all those years ago were bound to have been mined dry and lost by others in his absence. Also, in comparison to what he dealt with regularly, not to mention the fact that he usually dealt with his enemies alone, their current level in that regard wasn't that unusual. With everything the world of remnant had going for them, bar the treatment of the faunus as well as the frontier colonies, there was very little need for them.

That's not to say they couldn't do with an upgrade. He could only speculate at this point, but if they could manage to get their hands on some of the metals he carried, the grimm probably wouldn't be as great of a threat as they are. Though introducing it in their now could carry a whole host of other problems.

So he sufficed with selling a few bars of every type. Not enough to be turned into any weapons, but enough to hopefully make a decent amount of cash for the future. What he didn't expect was the freakout he got in doing so.

At first, the dealer he went to in attempts to sell them looked more confused than anything at what he was looking at; believing he had simply dyed one of the already known metals pink in order to make a decent profit off of it. It was _after_ that first testing that the man had started to act a little bit crazy, asking him where he had managed to obtain such materials, which he kept to himself for the time being. There were a few reasons he refused to answer, but the biggest was due mainly to the fact that he wanted information of the metals brought into the hands of the proper authorities; which is harder to do if one considers the racism and everything. Looking into Qrow's boss would be a good start, but he couldn't take too long in doing so, hence him making a beeline straight to Vale.

The man didn't particularly like his answer though, and tried to force it out of him with the two security personnel there, namely two policemen who were regularly sent to the inner colonies to guard them. Luckily they didn't do that, much to his relief and continued amusement at the time, getting the man to calm down after an hour of frothing at the mouth; screaming at him ' _Where did you find this?! Tell me!_ ' over and over again during said period of time while they held him back. After that, the man settled on simply buying all the cargo he was willing to part with.

He made over seventy million Lien.

Yeah, he was just as shocked.

He had expected to make at least thirty to forty selling three of each to them, but apparently their tensile strength being beyond anything they had seen, and that's not mentioning the rarity of it; what with no one ever having found them before. They measured its worth by the gram, and since it was pretty damn heavy all on its own, with the exception of mythril because...well, mythril, you could pretty much guess.

So yeah, he had enough money that he could retire in the best part of the rich mans district in Vale if he wanted to.

And boy howdy, how much he _really_ wanted to do that.

' _Why does the world always have to be in trouble again right after I deal with another problem?'_ He sighed, giving a small grunt when the store-bought iron wrench finally gave and broke under the pressure and snapped. He chucked the broken pieces over the lip of the cliff he was on in annoyance. _'Mister Incredible was right, it sucks when it won't stay saved.'_

Scratching the back of his head he looked towards the skyline. He had gone a little ways up the side of a mountain to work in peace without the grimm up and bothering him every five minutes. Little buggers had a habit of appearing more often than a slime.

The sun had just started to crest the horizon, painting the blue sky with purple, orange and red. A few birds fluttered in the sky, leaving the nests that lay in the ruins of the city he had come across. If he remembered correctly, it was called Mountain Glenn. To his confusion the area wasn't labelled on any map he came across. The only reason he came down this way was from word of mouth. Apparently, there was an old, neglected dust mine that remained here even after the city was overrun. It was the only reason he made a detour instead of heading straight to Vale via train.

Though he would be remiss if he didn't compliment the picturesque view he had of the sun rising to the retreating clouds, the forests and broken down buildings casting long shadows. The sight was stunning to behold.

Though he didn't much enjoy the thought of combat unless it was for competition, he probably would never get rid his wanderlust.

To see sights like this often made his dreary life a little more colorful and amazing.

' _If only the others were here with me to see this...'_ Jonas thought glumly. He shook his head after realizing where his mind was going. As much as it sucked losing everything and everyone again, he couldn't afford to let himself fall into depression. They wouldn't want that, and neither would he.

Not after everything they did for him.

He slapped his cheeks to snap him out of his funk, pocketing his project before standing and facing the view in front of him. He took a few minutes to take in the sight, making a mental note of the place if he ever came through here again; which he very well might if his plan manages to go through the way he wants it to. Not that he doesn't have a plan b mind you; it would just work out better for everyone involved.

Even the higher ups, though they may say otherwise.

Jonas jumped from the ledge, falling in mid air for a second. Eventually his feet met with the rocky slope, and he slid several hundred feet down; dodging various rock outcroppings and small protruding stones that would have tripped and sent him tumbling. When he came close to the ground he threw himself forward, going into a roll to dissipate most of his momentum. He threw his hands to the ground and straightened out his body, ending up in the air for half a second until his feet met the ground, feeling little force crawling up his legs for the maneuver.

He imagined he'd get a solid ten in acrobatics if he were in the Olympics.

Dusting himself off, Jonas took a quick look around his surroundings, finding himself several dozen meters off the mine entrance he found earlier yesterday. Several towering buildings that were once at least a dozen stories tall were laced around it, probably meant to aid in its function in one form or another. The roads were cracked and dull, and there were no signs around; probably lost with the passage of time from the elements. But its sheer size, not to mention what he saw of it from his earlier perch, told him of how often it was used before all this. Though he didn't take that route in, as long as he followed it he'd find his way to the forests edge before the sun fully rose into the sky.

Taking a deep breath, as well as a cursory glance to his surroundings for any enemies, he quickly but quietly started to make his way down the road.

Completely unaware of the mad giggling and gruff grunt that occurred a ways away.


	9. Madness and Rage

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Madness and Rage**

* * *

He had been walking along for at least an hour at this point, cutting down grimm here and there every few minutes as he strolled through the desolate ruins. He'd managed to get somewhere around halfway through the city, though in his defense he was walking at a minimized pace to memorize what area he could along the way in case he ever needed to come back through here.

He could have flown over the place and gotten a birds eye view, but his memory wasn't exactly photographic. He was able to remember quite a bit in terms of landscapes and cave systems, as it was pretty much mandatory for his survival back during the terraria days to trawl through them often, but he wasn't _that_ good. Not to mention it also ran the risk of him being spotted if he decided to fly his way down to Vale, which was another can of beans he really didn't want to open until his plan properly came to fruition.

Well, one of them anyway.

So he decided to at least make some worth of the trip by doing this. Though it'd probably take a couple more to get the place down, it wasn't anything new he had to deal with; what with constantly needing to go out into the wilds to find items, get food, and slay monsters or the like. Attempting to force himself into something however usually ended up with him taking longer; probably because he ended up paying less attention from getting irritated or gaining tunnel vision, which was common whenever he tried to rush things.

Patience wasn't exactly his strong suit when he had a schedule to keep. Call it a bad habit like the old group did, but he really couldn't help it.

A man was allowed a few flaws, wasn't he?

So yeah, in times where there wasn't anything to fight, it was better to take in the area around you if you ever did. It might've seemed pretty obvious; like, one n' done, right? But with nature being its mischievous self, the terrain could change from a boss skirmish, invasion, or nature going its course; even if it was only minute.

Or you coulda been him and inadvertently brought the hallow to the land, or meteors of different kinds started raining from the sky every few weeks, basically changing said terrain to a significant degree, depending on how big the rock was at impact.

Though in the nine months he'd been here, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of such things at any point. Not even any Corruption or Crimson from breaking those demon altars, which admittedly still worried him since it meant it was still growing somewhere in Remnant unchecked. The sole exception was the small area of hallow about three klicks he created himself due to a self-imposed mission, which he made sure to wall it off with an ass-load of bricks and wood, along with some signs warning any passer-by's not to take any dirt from the land while explaining why. He wondered initially if they could've read the written language at first, but those fears were assuaged when he passed by a diner menu. Aside from certain words forms being different between them, it should've still been legible enough for one to make out the meaning behind it.

Hopefully.

Last thing he needed was another outbreak. God forbid if he learned of it through someone else and he needed to bolt back to fix yet another mistake; indirectly or otherwise. The previous incident with a small amount of Corruption he made was bad enough, having believed he had made it remote enough that none would find it. A greedy merchant and alchemist had a similar idea to him, wanting to make potions with the ingredients that could be grown in said environment, but didn't know the precautionary measures that were needed when they went back home and planted it. Took months to finally get rid of it, and he unfortunately had to kill all of them. By the time he was done there was already another chunk of Corruption that had popped up somewhere else too, so he didn't feel like he had succeeded much in any form during that time.

He would've done it again, but the locals back then...well, they didn't exactly inspire the best confidence after that. No offense to them; but when they call you a witch and tried to burn you alive and chase you with pitchforks and torches on more than one occasion, not to mention use mercury in their 'Healing Reagents' from those phony alchemists, you can't exactly call them the cream of the crop when it comes to their knowledge and caution. Sad as it is to admit, he had encountered corrupted or crimsoned human on more than one occasion due to their ignorance after that initial incident.

Though he can't completely blame them for that, what with the whole 'fairy tale creatures and eldritch horrors from mans darkest nightmares roaming the land' type deal, not to mention the fact they were in what he could equate as a fantasy medieval age. If he were in their shoes, which he partially was back then but that was besides the point, he'd probably be saying the same thing. It was more than likely they had assumptions that he was the cause of said appearances; which was something else entirely he really didn't want to think of.

But hey, advantages of being born on another more technologically advanced world at the time. Tends to pound realism into ones head before their own imagination. But even that can only go so far.

' _Wonder how the earth is doing anyway?'_ Jonas mused. It _had_ been well over a decade since he'd been pulled off of it and thrown onto Terraria; or Remnant, as they liked to call the world nowadays.

With a sigh he shook himself out of those thoughts, opting instead to observing his surroundings. He really needed to break that habit. Getting lost in his head in unknown territory is just asking to get shivved. Not that he would, what with his armor, aura and everything, but he'd have to be an idiot to become lax. His time in Terraria more than grilled that little tidbit into him.

His eyes sharpened at the sound of rocks shifting, knocking into each other a ways away from him. Jonas turned his head, looking for the source of the sound, but found nothing worth noting. No recent prints or claw marks to be seen.

It could've been the wear and tear he supposed, but he didn't live this long by choosing to ignore all possibilities.

Now alert, his eyes wandered from place to place, looking for any unseen enemies. Distant growls from various creatures sounded from somewhere beyond, yet when he looked down the street all he could see was the dilapidated buildings and the ruined road.

He was probably surrounded.

Again.

Materializing Vortex Beater and Excalibur while taking a combat stance. Slowly he moved towards one of the broken buildings, looking down his sights of his gun. A back to the wall was better than a back open to being clawed at or bitten from behind.

The staccato of growling, roars and howls slowly grew, and a steady thumping began to be heard shortly thereafter. From the sounds of it, it wasn't in any one direction. Certainly wasn't near-deafening, but it was plenty loud all on its own; which was rather concerning if one considers that he wasn't feeling strong negative emotions. Sure, he was being melancholic and a little negative lately, but at maximum it was the barest feeling of it; not enough to draw a crowd of enemies that could make such a building crescendo. He would've pulled a horde of them already when he jumped off the side of the mountain otherwise.

A quick pull of the trigger had a bullet landing between the eyes of a basic beowolf that had turned the corner, intent to be the first to kill their quarry, and he held it down as a small horde of Grimm quickly followed suit behind them; layering plasma blasts and bullets with the projectile swings of his sword in attempts to drop their numbers, with varying degrees of success. The young among them walked into the line of fire, meeting quick ends by a hail of bullets or explosions, but the older, more experienced of them had looked to pull back quickly, taking up an alternate route while another group poured in from his right.

He concluded that continuing to stay and fight in his current position would lead him to fighting up close and personal with them. It wasn't that he couldn't handle it. Quite the contrary, he dealt with endless hordes with nothing but his guns and blades in heavily enclosed spaces he knew nothing about. The difference was, the more wise of the group were probably hoping for that to occur, wanting to lead him on; taking him on a merry chase in attempts wear him out enough to properly take him out themselves while he was dealing with the trash mobs.

Credit to the Grimm where it was due. For soulless beings as the other races claim them to be, they were intelligent enough to learn and adapt from encounters. Didn't know how long their lifespans were, or even if they were the same between the different forms they could take; making them an even larger threat than anyone could properly predict in large hordes. Smaller groups could definitely still be a viable danger, sure, but those who still did that were rare and far between; not to mention they were often all incredibly old at that point.

He jumped into the air, landing atop the broken wall of one of the many ruined buildings as he continued to rain metal hail on his foes. His blade vanished from his hand as his aura and mana began to manifest, followed along by two shades of dust on his coat. He threw his hand forward, and in the process made a line of water and ice shaped like daggers spread out into the air. Created by dust and held aloft by his magic, he launched the slowly building projectiles like a wave, piercing the second group, all the while firing at the first with his gun. Luckily for him, and that's ignoring his building understanding of the magical arts, Blue Magic was his strong point. Taking into account the benefits he got from dust further easing his burden, he was probably one of the most dangerous folks currently walking on Remnant.

Dust was fucking _awesome_.

His heart and mind maintained a steady beat as he fought, forcing himself to remain calm and analyze the situation. By the looks of things, there wasn't all that much in terms of enemies. Sure, there were Beowolves and Ursa's of various sizes, but there weren't any creeps or deathstalkers. Even the Nevermores which, while uncommon, still popped up more often than most other aerial Grimm he'd seen, were nowhere to be found.

He didn't really know all that much about them in general. He had finally found a library a few weeks back, sure, but there was a slight problem he came across that forced him to stay there for a couple of weeks to better adapt to their common enemy.

What he read up on was bound to be a bit of a moodkiller.

Large groups like this were almost impossible to form naturally. Unless something had occurred to drive a great deal of people to despair, groups of Grimm that numbered in the three digits were incredibly hard to come by. While they did fight Humanity, they also had disputes with one another. Sometimes it was territorial; a group of Grimm wandering into an other's habitat. Other times, it was fights between the oldies and the youngsters, which was more obvious. But more often than not, whenever such incidents happened, the often outcome was a purge of one of the groups. And it wouldn't be out of the question if certain species despised others.

At most a single person could bring in a few dozen in an unprotected and wild area like this at any one time, with a couple more probably waiting in the wings. But a group this size numbering in the mid-hundreds?

He was probably overdoing things again, but again. He survived this way. Hard to argue with the results.

The tide of black slowly petered out, and he eventually let his finger of the trigger of his gun when the flow stopped. He couldn't see or hear the surrounding area due to the echoes of the explosions and the dust lingering in the air, but he'd be foolish to assume he killed them all, or that their elders had simply ran from him.

His theory held true when an Ursa Major broke clear through the wall he was standing atop, forcing him to take a quick jump off its rear end, and onto a rusted lamp post. He lifted his gun to fire, only to be blindsided by an Alpha Beowolf, knocking the wind out of him and making him land in a heap as he dropped his weapon in surprise. The beast lunged at him with arms outstretched, and it would've connected if Jonas hadn't gathered his wits before he landed; firmly planting the soles of his greaves into its mid-section and launching them away from him.

' _Smart little buggers.'_ He griped, standing on his feet. He lifted one of his legs, and on the bottom of his foot an orange runic circle appeared; the center bearing the symbol of a crumbling mountain. Slamming said foot onto the ground, had an immediate effect as the earth trembled; the alpha that had attacked him being impaled by some three spikes out of the five that had extended from the ground, piercing it through its head from the bottom of its jaw, as well as its shoulder and stomach.

A roar alerted him to the Ursa behind him, and he threw himself forward to dodge a swing that snapped the metal lamp post like a twig, leaving a long, deep gash in the tarmac and sidewalk. He quickly pulled his sword out again, flipping it onto a reverse grip as the bear lumbered onto two feet, and flung himself at it backwards while jabbing his arm out; stabbing it where he thought its heart would be. Kind of up in the air for beasts that literally fade into nothing after you kill the damned things; even the blood. Pulling it out, he quickly turned as he twisted the blade into a proper hold, and slashed at the Ursa, leaving a deep gash in its belly, before he threw himself out of its way as it fell.

He couldn't relax however, as yet more Grimm, all of which were Alphas or Majors, finally meandered onto the street, along with the single creep every now and then. They numbered in the couple of dozens, and his gun just so happened to be somewhere behind the wall of black and white that had built itself around him.

He snorted in amusement as he took in his surroundings, switching out his blade for his dolphin minigun, and quickly bringing up his inventory; switching out his standard bullets to his more potent gold rounds, which he had laced with green dust to increase its velocity. To his growing mirth, they seemed confused at the sight of his weapon.

"Yeah." He grinned. "I thought the same thing."

Pulling the trigger, he unleashed a storm of gold; each round bursting from the muzzle with gusto, surrounded by a swirling mass of air. Each shot punched a hole into its target. It didn't matter if it hit the bone plates or the flesh, both were punctured easily enough to leave craters or noticeable cracks in the plates surrounding the holes from their points of entry.

The Grimm scrambled as they attempted to find cover, but it did them little good; ripping through brick and drywall with ease. The smaller ones, namely the creeps and Beowolves, charged at him in attempts to silence his gun long enough for the rest to dog-pile on him, and were met with stiff resistance in the form of stone spikes jutting out from the ground abruptly; killing and wounding a few of them while forcing them back. Two small groups that had been at the back of the main group had enough time to jump over the trap, only to be met with the blunt end of his weapon shoving them back violently; throwing them back before they themselves turned into mulch for the trouble.

He danced around the street, leaving any and all that made such an attempt–which was two if anyone was wondering–met similar fates, leaving them unable to get properly close to him to get a shot in. Without an effective method to subdue him, he mowed them down with little effort; filling them full of holes in seconds, and whittled there numbers down to nothing in less than a minute. Dissipating corpses littered the ground, numbering somewhere around the upper double digits, if not the lower triple; though he couldn't be bothered to count them up, not when they'd vanish in the middle of it.

Smoke and dust scoured the area, and the smell of gunpowder and ozone invaded his nostrils, though he payed it no mind; keeping an eye on his surroundings and his gun at the ready as he slowly made his way over to his beater and returning it to his inventory. The obstructions slowly gave way, revealing the ground and walls plastered with bullet holes, or simply destroyed by it. Craters remained from where he unloaded his beater, showing nothing but chunks of the beasts that were slowly vanishing into nothing. The daggers of ice remained. Dozens, if not hundreds of them slowly melting under the light of the sun, or completely buried in the corpses of the Grimm.

Slowly, he lowered his gun at the sound of silence, turning his head this way and that to catch anything he might have missed, and still he found nothing. No insidious individuals who might have corralled them and set em off against him. Jonas pocketed his weapon, and slowly let his arms fall to his sides.

' _Maybe I'm just overthinking things?'_

He realized in a few short moments that he was _nowhere_ off his mark.

Distant yet quick footsteps quickly grew louder from behind him before abruptly stopping altogether. His eyes widened slightly, and he threw himself into the air, backflipping away and ending up back on his feet a good ten feet away. The tarmac where he once stood cracked under the pressure from a leather boot.

Jonas heard the man give a deranged giggle as he landed. His eyes quickly surveyed the new hostile, finding a man in an open leather jacket that ran down to his knees, covering white pants and leather boots with knee protectors. Writs blades lay folded on his arms, and he thought he might've spotted the barrel of a gun hidden underneath his leather vambraces. Above his large, thick belt, he could see a small line of his chest was lined with a few jagged scars.

The brown haired man looked at him with an unhinged stare, his braided ponytail blowing in the wind. His yellow eyes pupils were pinpricks, adding to his disturbed aura.

{Black Knight}

 **[ Tyrian Callows]**

(Faunus)

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

 **Aura:**

 **316/316**

' _Another black chess piece, huh? Must be with that girl then. If those Grimm were his doing, then they were probably meant to probe me. Or kill me if they thought I was weaker than they suspected.'_ Jonas' brows furrowed. _'...I can't find any noticeable faunus traits on him though. Maybe he lost them some time ago?'_

"My my, aren't you a quick one!" Tyrian said airily, giving Jonas a childlike smile that only served to make shivers run down his back. It'd be pretty hard to ignore the bloody, crimson flag he was waving. "And here I thought I had the drop on you despite your awareness!"

"...Have a few too many fights under my belt for that, I'm sorry to say." He replied after a moment of silence. "Um, who are you exactly..?"

"Oh right! Where are my manners!" The man chuckled. He gave him a small bow. "You may call me Tyrian, my good fellow."

' _Surprisingly pleasant for what he just did. Not to mention the intimidation factor...'_ He grumbled mentally as he casually talked to the man. Better to keep on airs around him in his opinion; might give them an edge if he didn't. "And I take it by you breaking the road like a nutcracker that you aren't simply here to talk?"

"Not at all, friend! I would _love_ to hear more about you in great detail, as would my colleagues." His eyes widened and bulged slightly as his smile became more feral. "However I'm afraid I can't let you leave here alive. I'm currently on assignment from her grace to deal with you, as you've come with the misfortune of drawing her attention. You have to understand, one does not upset the queen. That would be _most unwise_."

"Is that right?" He drawled. Both men had started circling around each other, keeping their distance. "Then, would you kindly tell this dead man the name of whom you serve?"

"Ah ah ah, spoilers!" Tyrian giggled evilly.

"Eh, worth a shot." Jonas shrugged. "You'd be surprised at how often people spill the beans if they think their quarry is already doomed. Pretty hilarious actually."

"I am _not_ like other people. You would be wise not to assume so."

"Got that alot too." He grinned. His mind meanwhile was a flurry of activity. Fighting the man was inevitable, and while he could fight with all the powers and weapons in his arsenal, but that left the risk of painting a target on his back that he really didn't want at this point. That's not mentioning that Tyrian likely saw his little display there, already giving them more of a picture than he wanted this early in the game. He could've already screwed himself as far as it goes, if they've managed to dig their claws deep enough in the kingdoms political systems at any rate. Showing anything more could throw him and possibly others into further danger...but...the other half of the argument was just as compelling however. If he didn't use his powers, he could very well die. And he didn't live this long just to have his heart carved out of his chest, you know!

Not to mention, the guy looked a little to insane for anyone other than his 'queen' to take seriously. Maybe enough to put him in a mental ward though.

What to do...

...

' _Fuck it.'_ He shrugged. _'Better that then death.'_

He snapped into action at the sight of a downward kick aimed at his head, turning his body ninety degrees to let it hit the ground with an audible crack. Tyrian's blades unfolded and extended, taking on the shape of pincers, and he gave a vertical swing at his gut. When that missed, his attacks devolved into a series of swings, punches and kicks that he deftly dodged, ascertaining his fighting style while attempting to move as little as possible to keep his stamina up. It didn't take long for that to break down however. The faunus' attacks had begun to increase in pace, to the point where he had begun to jump around the street again to avoid his attacks. Goes to show that despite the times people could still be pretty dangerous, though much to Jonas' confusion he didn't pull out his ranged weaponry. He'd seen enough of his swings to confirm their presence above his wrists, yet for some reason he refused to pull them out.

His attacker bore a large cathartic smile, looking to enjoy the battle immensely. Almost as if he thirsted for it. And yet...Why did it look like this guy playing around? The way he fought was a bit off off, if one excluded his range weapons remaining unused. While his style was accurate and quick in his movements they looked...crude. Borderline chaotic.

Though if he _was_ simply farting around, then the point was moot until he actively came at him with the intent to kill. For all he knew, his current style was a ploy meant to lull him into a false sense of security before he used his real style, which would explain why it looked so rough.

Best to get things moving along before he gets too comfortable then.

He caught a kick aimed at his gut with his bare hands to stop the blow. Ignoring the force of the attack travelling down his arm, he wrapped his hands around the lower leg of his would-be assassin before he had a chance to move.

They gave a confused grunt, before it turned into a small yelp as he spun him off the ground. Quicker and quicker he turned as Tyrian snarled angrily. When he thought he built up enough momentum, he let go of him, sending the man flying into a cement wall with a shout.

It cracked and caved inward, yet to his surprise it didn't collapse under the force of the humanoid projectile. The assassin hung upside down in an indent of his own shape, and yet, unsurprisingly, barely looked worse for wear as he pulled himself out with an annoyed hiss. When he stood he immediately removed his jacket with a small growl, staring daggers at him all the while. Underneath lay a white vest, covered with several belts. His upper arms bore light brown bandaging that ran underneath his vambraces and weapons.

Was there a reason the assassin needed to remove his jacket, though? It looked large enough that it didn't impede his movements. It was possible that it was related to his faunus traits, but he lacked far too much information to be sure.

Taking the mans action to memory as a reminder to remain cautious, he focused solely on him as they begun another round. Nothing had changed all that much besides his swings becoming faster to a degree; though not enough that he couldn't see it coming with phys-en discreetly aiding his sight. The lunatic rushed him, throwing attack after attack, arm and leg; hitting close enough to leave small cuts on his clothing and skin, though the effects were minimal, what with his aura already healing the small wounds. His entire body was his weapon, moving with the fluidity of a raging rapid and the speed of a tornado. He had to admit, Tyrian truly was an amazing fighter. Despite his haphazard technique, anyone would be hard-pressed to properly fight him without backup. If it wasn't for his magic, he would've already sustained some nasty wounds.

Too bad he was a hurricane by comparison.

Though maybe that was him gloating. He wasn't quite sure...

Jonas finally took an opening, grabbing his attacker by a leg and arm, and dodging a wild swing aimed at his head by taking the arm he held captive and putting it into the line of his attack. A loud clang echoed in the empty street, Tyrian's arms going wide from the force of his own strike. Seizing his chance, he threw an aura infused punch into his stomach and temporarily winding him for a moment, giving him a chance to throw his own flurry of punches onto his torso. Nothing too fancy mind you. He only practiced what amounted to the basics and some of the more advanced techniques at the time, since wielding magic and weaponry and sometimes both was more useful, with exceptions that happened to be _for_ his fists. He ended with an uppercut to his chin that caused a surge of purple light to spread outward across the assassins body, and throwing him a dozen feet in the air.

He landed on his feet unsteadily. Massaging his chin, he spat a small glob of blood from his mouth. He looked positively _furious_ with him.

" _You son of a bitch!_ "

* _Crack!*_

"AUGH!" He screamed, a small stream of blood trickling down his nose. "Would you stop punching me in the mouth?!"

"Then don't call my mother that." Jonas retorted, giving him an unimpressed glance, his fist still extended, throbbing slightly. Tyrains body was like steel! "I mean really, how'd you feel if I called your precious leader _'_ _T_ _he_ _Q_ _ueen of_ _A_ _ll_ _S_ _luts'_?"

"RRRAUGH!" The lunatic roared, rushing him in a blind fury.

"Ya see? Not very pleasant is it?"

Attacks more feral than previous were the only response. His eyes widened at the sound of machinery being activated, very faintly hearing the sounds of gears and the like turning, before he broke into a series of somersaults, barely dodging most of the shots; some of which ended up punching through his leather gloves or smacking right into the armor of his legs or arms and rebounding off of them. A small grimace worked its way on his face at the pain. Small trickles of blood leaked down from where his attacks hit home on his arms, fading only after a few moments from his aura; the bullets that had embedded themselves hitting the ground with a quiet clink. A ferocious grin broke out on Tyrians face, whose arms were extended outward, seemingly enjoying the sight of blood.

Jonas however...

' _Ah, god dammit!'_ He swore mentally, looking at his gloves and sleeves and sweating. _'Edmund's gonna kill me...'_

"Do you see now? Your aura is so weak, it couldn't even defend against my bullets!" Tyrian giggled madly. "You have no way of defeating me, boy! If you surrender, I might just end you quickly. Or, at least, torture you quicker than I do the others."

Jonas quirked a brow as his misunderstanding. A few moments of silence passed before he broke out into raucous laughter that surprised the assassin. His expression slowly morphed into annoyance as his chuckling finally petered out as his eye twitched.

"No, that's not why I was making that face, buddy." He replied after a small sigh, grinning impishly. "Just worried what a friend of mine'll do to me when he realizes that I damaged my clothing for the umpteenth time. Guy can be downright _evil_ when he wants to. And by the way, your aura remark couldn't be further off the mark"

"What?!" He snarled.

"Dude, you haven't noticed? I've been forcing my aura into a support role. Helps to save on some of it for more important things. Besides, I can take the hurt. Reminds me not to get too overzealous. That can be pretty dangerous." Jonas tapped his forearm. "Course, I've already healed the bullet-holes because of that, though I'm honestly a bit ashamed of myself. Before, I could dodge attacks like no ones business, but now?" He sighed. "Guess its because I haven't had a good battle in several months to get my survival instincts to kick in again. Must be getting a bit rusty."

His attacker growled in annoyance, looking just about ready to go and launch himself at him again. Instead, to Jonas' muted surprise, he simply grinned, jumping back and snapping his fingers.

Again, the earth trembled, and again, another mass of black came pouring in out from everywhere. Only this time, there was a wider assortment of Grimm. On top of the Beowolves, Ursa and creepers were a large group of boarbatusks, numbering over eight dozen at least; all of which had the smaller roads blocked off. Standing tall in the back was a Goliath, blocking off the main road with their sheer size. Moments later, another came crashing through buildings and Grimm alike from behind him. A small number of Nevermores and Griffons had started to do circles in the air, presumably chirping and screeching at him, though he couldn't hear them over the din of the Goliaths.

For anyone, they probably would've been quaking in their boots at such a massive group of Grimm surrounding them, their brains probably flat-lining in terror. And he wouldn't blame them. These fuckers could be downright terrifying when they wanted to be. He himself used to, but he learned to hide it better.

Fear was _definitely_ still there though.

"So _you_ were the one who had that first group come after me!" Jonas chimed in with a small grin, rubbing his chin as he looked around. "I assume you did that to have them probe me for my abilities then. Clever boy!"

"Mock me all you want fool. Words won't save you from the end." The assassin sneered. "KILL HIM!"

The Grimm tearing towards him, the ground feeling like a small scale earthquake. The Goliaths lumbered towards behind the encroaching group, minimizing what room he had to maneuver in; probably as a bid to make him desperate.

If the assassin was the one who sent the first group in, then it was just as likely that he already had a small handle on his powers. If that was true then...

' _...Fuck it.'_

After that, all hell broke loose.

Materializing a portal, he reached into it, and pulled out a yellow and orange whip which glowed brightly. He spun it around in small circles, and when the creatures got into his range he flung it forward. The whip extended and expanded hooks along its sides, tearing through multiple Grimm within its range; cleaving them in twain or leaving lethal wounds, and setting them ablaze before retracting into its original position. Those who stood too close to others who burned became fuel for the ever expanding inferno. The smaller and more fragile of the Grimm fell to the ground almost immediately, while the stronger of them screeched in panic and agony. Again, he did it from his sides, but as he turned to do it from behind he found himself face to face with an oncoming, ginormous elephants foot.

With a quick step back he narrowly dodged what would have been his demise; the end of its foot scraping the soles of his greaves. With all of his powers, even _he_ wouldn't survive the beasts weight crushing down on him. Jumping into the air he pocketed his whip, and hid his demented smile behind his helmet as he reached the crown of the Goliaths head. Pulling yet another item out revealed a grey and gold drill half a body taller than he was, and just as thick as him. He gave the drill a quick rev, and then...

Then he began to drill into the dark elephants head; piercing through its bone armor after a few short moments and burrowing into its brain.

The beast bellowed, stumbling and bashing itself against a few buildings in a vain attempt to jar him loose. The structures, now having lose most of their old and worn supports, began to cave in. Some of the remaining Grimm that hadn't been caught in the blaze ended up dead; crushed by the massive weight, or left with injuries enough to no longer consider them a viable threat. A few of the Nevermores and Griffons were hit by some of the smaller falling debris, knocking them out and leaving them to fall to their deaths, while the rest that had been lucky enough to remain out of range of the attack had scampered off in fright. The Goliath abruptly spasmed as the last structure fell, throwing up a massive dust cloud as the creature began to list to the side; falling over and smashing onto the ground with a loud _*****_ _ **BOOM***_ , though the crash was barely heard among the destruction they both had caused.

Silence passed for a small while, or what could be counted as silence with the flames and feral screams still going on around the battlefield. Eventually he had managed to dig his way out through the elephants lower jaw after a small while, covered in black blood and gore; much to his chagrin, and very much glad that he had equipped his mask beforehand. Jonas winced as his eyes finally landed on the destruction he had indirectly caused. At the very least, he had managed to kill most of the Grimm, scaring off what few that remained alive. Even the other Goliath wasn't spared from the carnage, a large shard of a fallen building having torn through the beasts neck; leaving it to burn amongst the flames.

It was good the place had long since been abandoned, though he silently wondered if Vale had been alerted by this mess he had been forced to make.

If his eyes hadn't been wandering the further destroyed ruins of a city, he would not have come across his would be assassin making yet another attempt to sneak up on him; his blade already bearing upon his shoulder and chest. He defended himself with the side of his drill, the clashing metal reverberating like a bell, before he tore into the faunus with a vengeance. With a hard swing from the massive would-be weapon, he very nearly crushed Tyrian; his opponent attempting to block it, only to slide clumsily out of the way when he realized he couldn't hold up against the collective weight of the attack. He mostly dodged, putting in a swing here and there that merely grazed his skin, which healed almost immediately afterward, or ran across his armor.

He made a small side-note to place bracers, and maybe some plates for the back of his hands on his gloves the next time he had a chance. Sure, it'd probably slow down his attacks, but with the way he was fighting, it was sorely needed.

Downside of Aura giving people an edge. He'd call it unfair if he wasn't using it himself.

Not to mention, he still had to learn how to properly utilize the damned thing. Jonas knew he could use it to strengthen his attacks or speed, but it ran under a completely different system than magic. He could still use it, but it was incredibly clumsy when he put it to use, which isn't even bringing into question how costly it is in terms of said usage. The sooner he found a teacher or a book to read on it, the better.

He was thrown out of his musings with a kick connecting with his stomach, shoving him a couple dozen feet away from where they started, his feet skidding on the ground before he finally came to a stop. The blow probably would've hurt more if it weren't for the leather and chainmail armor he was wearing leaving him feeling slightly winded.

"Quite the show friend! You certainly know how to give someone a good time!" Jonas gave the man a flat stare as he gave him a smug slow clap. "I certainly didn't see you defeating them so handily. Even the Goliath was dispatched with ease! And the _Destruction_ you caused! Like a symphony I could have fallen asleep to!"

" _..._ _This is coming from a guy who's rather strange himself, but you are one weird bastard, you know that?_ " Jonas stated.

"So I've heard. Until I kill them." He faux whispered to him with a wink. "So far, you're one of the very few who've managed to survive to this point. And you've done so _splendidly_!"

' _Here we go again...'_ Jonas rolled his eyes as the man started on what he expected would be another 'Join us' speech, before quickly cutting him off. " _Look,I'm not intending on working for your boss, if that's what you're trying to get at._ "

"Shame...it would have saved your life."

" _...Were all the Grimm I killed just now not a clear indicator of how this is gonna go down? Cause I feel like it should._ "

"Under any other circumstance you might be right. However..." The crazed man grew a psychotic smile. "Whoever said that was the only card I had on me?"

Jonas raised an eyebrow. Going off of that, it was pretty likely that he had more than Grimm on his side.

Course, it'd be a mistake not to mention that around the time he thought that, two hands the size of his head firmly grasped his own head. Shortly after that, his nerves began to scream in pain. If the electric snaps he was hearing were any indication, he was probably being electrocuted, starting from his brain and working its way down. His mouth shot open on its own behind his mask, though no screams worked past his lips.

' _Huh. Clever little bastard.'_

Wait, why was he being so non-nonchalant with this?

His head involuntarily craned further backwards from the shock, and he found himself staring eye to eye with a rather tall man with a slightly darker skin tone and short brown hair and beard.

"Sorry kid, its nothing personal." The large mans deep, gruff tone could barely be heard. He could slightly make out something violently piercing through the loops of his chain-mail and leather and into his chest. His pain receptors were focused on other things, however. "Have to do what needs to be done. But I'll try to make it quick."

His vision abruptly lurched suddenly, and within moments he found the constant pain he felt from his shock therapy had finally abated, only to be abruptly replaced with his face slamming into the concrete debris of one of the few buildings he had felled with extreme gusto; some remains flying into the air only to fall over his body, leaving him unable to move. Though it mattered little with his body temporarily paralyzed from all the electric damage it took.

Well, points when they were due. Although he should've known better, he certainly didn't expect that little development. Maybe he was getting conceited from being on Remnant for so long. Again, it _had_ been several months at this point.

' _Very rusty it looks like...'_ He sighed to himself. _'Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty.'_

His body felt numb, all sense of feeling gone. His aura would probably repair it, but he idly wondered how long that wou-

He nearly let out a cry as his nerves recovered, flinching heavily under the rubble. He winced in pain as the pain slowly began to abate.

' _Oh good, there it is.'_

"Took you long enough, you big oaf!" He heard Tyrian snap at the other man after his ears finally stopped ringing, though they sounded incredibly muffled through all of the debris that had piled up on top of him. His eyes wandered in the dark to the corner of his vision, and was surprised to find that he had been poisoned at some point during his electrocution; probably from the poking he felt.

"You know I couldn't help that when he was dealing with that large a group of Grimm." The larger man chided. "If I tried, he may have severely wounded me in the process. If you had a little more self-control and sent them in smaller groups, I might've been able to deal the stunning blow sooner, and with less casualties on our queens end."

"Well _excuse_ me for trying to following our goddess' orders!"

' _Geese, these guys just go on and on...'_ He rolled his eyes under his mask. He was starting to get the feeling back in his arms and legs; both for good and ill, if one considered the small tremors that ran through them. _'Know what? Doesn't matter. Works in my favour, anyway.'_

The two continued to prattle on, seemingly unaware for a moment of the shaking debris before their eyes absently wandered to it a few moments later.

 _ ***BOOM!***_

Too bad by then, he had already recovered.

Quietly he walked out of the crater, his helm gone as he drank a viscous green liquid from an ugly, gelatinous green mass in his hand. He gave a satisfied, if resignedly disgusted sigh as the material faded into shards of light, before giving the two of them a comical grin.

His eyes quickly wandered over the large man next to Tyrian. Clothed in a simple three quarter sleeve black and green shirt with two lightning dust crystals embedded into his skin much to his surprise, and simple, if slightly stylized black pants, with two small pouches on each of his legs and a set of worn steel toe leather boots. His weathered face said he looked well into his forties, and while his eyes showed his experience in battle, they also carried a small sign of surprise, and oddly enough remorse.

{Black Rook}

 **[ Hazel Rainart]**

 **Health:**

 **100/100**

 **Aura:**

 **380/420**

 **Current Buffs:**

 **{Extreme Pain Tolerance}: Greatly numbed to pain.**

 **[Dust Enhancement (Electric)]: Movement and Attack Speed are greatly increased. Damage greatly increased.**

Yet another chess piece added to the pile. Going by that idiom, whoever the queen is for them had to be a rather fearsome foe; especially so considering they could control Grimm. But if she was the Queen, then who was the King?

Quickly sneaking a look, he found a scorpion tail on the first of his would-be killers. It suddenly made much more sense of why he removed his coat, not to mention the prickling feeling that resulted as he was getting shocked. The thickness and look of the ribbed belt should have given it away, but he wasn't sure what animal traits the Faunus people could hold.

"You know, I honestly didn't see that coming." He shrugged, a curious expression on his face. "Really, it's more a sign of how rusty I've gotten in recent months, but all the same; I certainly didn't expect you to actually have another human being backing you up in this, let alone the scorpion tail. Though really, that's more me reasoning that I couldn't see anyone working with you willingly, Tyrian. Since you seem quite insane in your own right, it seemed pretty far-fetched that _anyone_ would want to be anywhere within fifty feet of you."

He continued as the man in question glowered at him. "And that's on me. For not considering how someone with your level of skill, which is rough but brilliant mind you, would serve someone who goes by the moniker 'Queen' unless you believed in their cause wholeheartedly. Admirable feat since, again, you act plum loco. But what really got me..." His eyes began to glow softly, narrowing at the two in front of him. "Was the fact you were able to control the Grimm; something I've never seen done by anyone since coming here. And that makes any man with half a brain who's been viewing most of these events outside the box ask... Who or what exactly _is_ this Queen of yours that allows you to command such beasts? Are they possibly some type of scientist that managed to find a way to control them? Or, on a much darker thought..."

Jonas' Terra Blade manifested in his hand as a terrible smile grew on his face.

"...Are they Grimm themselves?"

The answer to his question never came. Despite how he hoped he might get lucky, they remained stone-faced to any probing he could manage at his level.

Old habits really died hard, he supposed.

"Ah well, can't blame a guy for trying." He said quietly, barely being heard by the both of them. Jonas pointed his blade at them. "Wellp, I'd try to torture you for the info, but I get the feeling that yellow eyes mcbandages would get off on that."

"Wha- I don't have a fetish like that!" He shouted in disgust. Hazels lips twitched unnoticed, and he looked away when the assassins eyes wandered to him.

"All evidence to the contrary." Jonas replied bluntly before shrugging, a hand behind him glowing slightly as a purple runic circle began to from in his palm. "Well, its not like I'd do it anyway. Don't exactly have it in me to pull a morally unacceptable stunt like that. Families raised me better than that. And I suspect interrogation wouldn't do a thing to you two without it."

The circle pulsed in his hand as he closed his eyes.

"Having said that though..."

The world lurched for him, and he vanished from their sight. It took them by surprise momentarily-

Before they heard the sound of footsteps behind them; electric blue eyes with white irises boring into their backs as a voice echoed.

" _ **How about I make this quick?**_ "

* _ **SHING!**_ *

* * *

 **Well  
It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?  
Having been working a graveyard shift for the last three months leaving me totally wiped before getting abruptly laid off, not to mention family matters which I won't get into, I've been left with a severe lack of drive in writing this until recently.  
I won't apologize for it. Family for me is more important than this story. All I can say is that, other than me looking for work elsewhere, My focus has mostly returned to here. I'll be trying to get the next chapter out here soon, so no worries.**

 **Stay Sober!**


	10. A Greeting From Two Terras

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter Ten**

 **A Greeting From Two Terras**

* * *

 _ **A Few Days Later...**_

* * *

It was a pretty decent day out when they got the message.

Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin were attempting to finalize the budget for next year, which was in a little less than four months, which she wisely decided not to sit in on. Decision making between the both of them could run on for a fairly decent while; something she accidentally realized when she sat in on one of their rough-drafting sessions. Sat there for over _three hours_ , though she fell asleep somewhere around the middle when they entered in an argument for deciding on if Professor Port could do with fewer classes for what she heard was an entire hour in and of itself.

She personally sided with Headmaster Ozpin on that one. If he had nothing to do, lord knows he'd probably wander the halls of Beacon, chatting the ears off of passersby for potentially long periods of time. It happened once apparently, before Glynda had started working here, and he wasn't very keen on it happening again if he could help it.

He was a good man, but he had the unfortunate curse of gab. An unfortunate lullaby for most; even some of the older staff.

She was pretty sure he would have called it a gift instead, and everyone bar Professor Goodwitch would have played along. A pouty Port led to more than a few issues, as she so aptly learned herself.

She herself had taken refuge in one of the many parks that the school owned. They were quite expansive, and gave rather beautiful scenery for her, in both relaxation, as well as her drawings. The one she currently resided in happened to have a cherry tree that was in the process of losing its petals that fell on the winding walkway, giving an incredibly picturesque view.

Unfortunately, while she did enjoy the sight, her mind kept wandering onto other subjects. A quick flipping of a few pages revealed several pictures of her savior. Drawn down to the last detail, she used this to give a better portrait of the man. The picture Qrow took wasn't bad, but it didn't give them all a thorough look at him.

What were all those terms he was talking about? She certainly hadn't heard such things before, and neither did Ozpin or the others. Not to mention his abilities, too. Being able to materialize objects out of nowhere? Creating or finding what he called 'Holy Water' just to cleanse that awful taint from her system?

Having the very same powers that made her a Maiden?

It'd be a lie to say that it didn't shake her or the others to the core. Professor Goodwitch became more paranoid since the attack, and she often found her eyes wandering out through windows and throughout open areas with a small degree of caution when she thought no one was looking. Ozpin and Qrows were a lot more subtle, but ever since then she'd find a small bird following her wherever she went. Not that she didn't mind the company, but having someone watching your every move for your own protection always made her chafe.

Ozpin himself became a bit more subdued than normal, pouring his energy into looking through old, worn down texts to look for any mention of another group that Jonas might have been a part of, to no avail. Often, his brows were more furrowed than not, a rather clear indication of how he felt about their current predicament, and he had a few more mugs of caffeine in attempts to relax, however the heck that worked with coffee.

It worried her, to see how much this affected them.

It had been over two months since that man came to her rescue, and the questions he posed only served to deeply confuse her. She wanted answers to her questions just as bad as the rest of them, and considering he said it'd take him as long to make his way down here pretty much drove her up the wall in anticipation.

Was he already here? Was he close? Her mind wandered to the man more often than not lately. She would've thought she was smitten if it wasn't for how _little_ she actually knew of him.

She didn't consider him an enemy though. It was pretty hard to when he put in the effort to cleanse that black muck from her body, even in spite of his threat. It sounded more like a promise actually, what with his tone at the time.

Honestly, this whole thing just served to leave her confused more and more with each passing day! Hopefully at least part of this would be done with soon, or she might just have an aneurysm from the stress.

"Miss Tawny?" A voice called out from right next to her. She jumped slightly, nearly slipping off of one of the many large tree roots currently layered out from one of the trees that had been on the cliff from before Beacon itself had been built. Looking over, she found Glynda peering down just off to her right with a small hint of both worry and curiosity. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, sorry...just got lost in my thoughts." She gave a sheepish smile back to her. Looking a little more closely, she noticed that her hands were clasped around her large work scroll a little tighter than usual, her knuckles bone white. "...Is everything okay?"

Her mouth opened for a moment before her eyes wandered throughout the area. Quickly but subtly she leaned herself forward, next to her ear.

"We just received a letter." She spoke quietly. "...From _him_."

Oh.

 _Oh_.

That would explain her attitude.

"What did it say?" She replied quickly.

"We haven't opened it yet." The green-eyed professor shook her head. "Ozpin wants you on hand in case something happens."

She nodded, quickly flipping her book closed and standing.

"Show me."

* * *

"Have you opened it yet?" Amber asked Ozpin as both she and Glynda walked off the elevator. The Headmaster gave her a long look.

"Not as of yet, no." He said finally after a few moments silence. "I thought Glynda told you we were waiting on you?"

"Yeah, she did." She nodded. "Its just that, after seeing how antsy you've gotten since everything that's happened, I wouldn't have put it past you to open it on your own."

"Come now, I'm not that bad."

"So I haven't seen you trying to be sneaky and have another couple cups of your coffee a day during your searches?" She grinned.

"...Touche." Ozpin replied, doing his best to ignore the glare he was getting from his deputy. Her eyes briefly roamed over the front of the closed letter.

 _ **Ozpin**_

 _ **From Jonas Everblue**_

The letter itself looked pretty normal, with exception to the small blue four point stars that were scattered around Jonas' name, of which they could see rivers of pale blue light flowing between them.

"Have you come across Qrow by any chance?" The recipient of the letter broke her chain of thought.

"I'm afraid I haven't spotted him." Glynda shook her head in the negative. "Do you want me to go-?"

"No need, I'm here." Qrow cut in from their right, having seemingly made his way in through the open window. "I hear we got some mail?"

"From our mysterious benefactor, yes." Ozpin confirmed. "Be ready. Anything may happen."

Quick nods came in reply. Qrow quickly pulled and extended his blade, while Glynda and Amber readied themselves with crop or hand to use their semblance and magic immediately. The Headmasters eyes wandered between them before he started pulling the letter open slowly from one of its corners.

The tension in the room was palpable. Each scratching sound from the paper being torn open served to wrack their nerves.

A quarter of the way open. Halfway. Still, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. At about three quarters, the pressure slowly began to ebb.

It was when he got to the other corner that they noticed the building light coming from inside the envelope.

None could utter so much as utter a word before said light shot out from inside, and into the air. Ozpin dropped it open his desk, taking a few steps back as more flew out like bullets of varying colours. They flew about like comets; bouncing off of whatever surface they hit with the sound of small chimes. One skimmed across the bottom of Qrows forearm before he had a chance to move, yet to his surprise, all he felt was a little tingly.

Slowly, they began to spiral into the air, still reflecting off of any materials, before meeting together in the middle and Coalesced. Small flecks came off and popped; crackling like fireworks before a single word became legible, surrounded by fanciful lines; enhancing its grandeur.

 **Sup**

...

...

...What?

* * *

 _ **Yet Another Couple Days Later...**_

* * *

It had been over two months now. Nine since he got here, but only two since he had begun to devise the best plan he could come up with; which was a bit sparse considering how much information he still lacked in the current age.

He planned out for every detail he could given his circumstances. Every possibility that might occur during his talks with Qrows boss, both verbal and otherwise. He planned for possible escape routes if they failed, which he didn't really think it'd come down to. He planned as far ahead in to the future as he could feasibly guess towards; since life isn't as great as it is without surprises at every corner. And he made damn well sure to repair his clothing and remove any dents from his armor before making his way down to Beacon.

He planned for everything he could.

So _why was he so bloody nervous?!_

He was currently aboard a large airship called a Skybus. It was a transport vessel meant for carrying a great many passengers all at once. The area he currently lounged in was a long rectangular room with several large, semi-circular windows giving you a pretty gorgeous view of the city beneath. Four holo-televisions, which frankly still boggled his mind, not to mention made him geek out _immensely_ , lay separated two to a wall. Ventilation was wisely installed throughout to keep the air from getting stale.

Jonas leaned on the wall somewhere within the middle of the room, periodically walking up and down the long corridor as his mind began to wander once again.

He knew why he was acting like this. Have to be pretty thick not to. After all, he was committing to the one thing he always tried to avoid doing: placing himself center stage in front of them and what would eventually become all of Remnant. Sure as hell wouldn't have done this if it wasn't to this worlds, as well as his own benefit. Not just for Humanity and Faunus kind, but for a few others who were waiting on it.

And man, didn't that just instigate some crazy stage fright.

He had cleaned himself and his clothes to perfection, fixing any dents in his armor to look as prim and proper as he could in his regular attire, and replaced his old leather gloves for ones layered with some proper armor; mainly fancy bracers and a large ovular plate that covered most of the back of his hand.

His choice in clothing shouldn't stand out too much since he was heading to an academy meant to train warriors, though he kept his weaponry stored in his inventory for the time being. Hopefully they'd realize he wasn't there to fight, despite both Qrow and Amber knowing about his inventory, even if it was to a minimal degree.

As far as he was concerned, he did as much as he could in preparation for all this. He even took a day or two to read up on certain customs and cultures now that he was here. And for the most part it was pretty similar, despite a few noticeable exceptions. Weapons were a thing that civilians could have as long as they had a license for it. What was glaringly different from his world though, was that there wasn't a limit on what _kind_ of weapon they could have.

It was actually funny learning that rocket launchers were legal to sell. But hey, when you live in a world of monsters...

Obtaining some of the more powerful items required a separate test and psychiatric check though, which was probably wise. Criminals would already be dangerous enough as it stood. Last thing they needed was a nutjob running around with high-yield weapon. And that wasn't even considering dust on top of that!

He had calmed down considerably, having his blessed mind wander somewhere else for the moment.

" _We will arrive at Beacon Academy shortly._ " An announcement began from some hidden speakers. " _Please grab all your bags and items before departing. Thank you._ "

Idly, his eyes wandered out one of the windows, taking in the growing visage of the school.

He had to admit, it was a beautiful view. With large, swaying rivers that poured over the edge of a massive cliff and into the sea, along with docks both at the top and beneath for variety of transportation, their addition only added to Beacons visage. Beyond the long main avenue and large gates were many towers of various shapes and sizes, at the center of which was the tallest among them. Often said to be above the clouds, which considering where it was wouldn't have been far-fetched, the seven differently sized orbs served to light the way for sailors.

Many had said it was a shining monument – pun probably intended – to Vales progress. And really, he was entitled to agree with them. Quite a few in town bore a shocking amount of common sense, despite having been technically locked inside a small area of land for god knows how many generations. Mistral sounded more like the business-oriented people back home, while what he heard of Vacuo reminded him more of the Dwarves he knew back in the day; caring very little for your race, with the exception of High-Elves, and any who earned their place in their book of grudges.

Atlas... well, the less said about that, the better.

But Vale was actually pretty surprising, considering the treatment he saw some Faunus folk were going through in the outlying towns. It wasn't as bad here obviously, since its centralized government was located here. It served to mitigate the damage to varying amounts depending on whatever authority figure was dealing with those instances, but even then it was still poignant enough a problem. There was more than a little discontent among the Faunus population as he learned, though the more belligerent of them left well enough alone after spotting his armor.

Hopefully, after he was done, it wouldn't last for much longer.

His eyes wandered around just as they began to pull into the dock, and he idly noticed one of the vents. Narrowing his eyes and looking a little more closely revealed a near colourless mist pouring in from the bottom, vanishing as it fell to the floor.

Warning bells went off in his head, and he quickly created a green runic circle. The fog abruptly stopped in place, before immediately flowing in reverse after with great gusto. With careful movements, he materialized and threw on his helm, and formed a black runic circle in his off hand that bore a moon half covered in darkness. The moment the circle faded, so too did his body blur out of existence. To them, it would appear as if he wasn't even there, but he could still faintly see his body, though it was pretty blurred.

Jonas speed walked towards the front of the hall, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could as that fog began to make its way back in now that his magic was gone. Taking one ear out from his mask, Jonas laid it upon the door, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

And summarily hid himself in the corner at the sound of a great many footsteps thundering down in his direction.

The heavy doors abruptly swung open, and at least a dozen men and women, all armed to the teeth, stormed into the room. All of them wore a cross between a combat outfit with armor stylized like a futuristic knight, with certain parts shaded in different colours between each of them. It covered nearly every inch of their bodies save for their mouths, which were also currently covered with gas masks. Along with that was a utility belt that had small white pistols placed at their hips, along with what he guessed was a retractable blade behind their backs. All of them were aiming down the sights of their rifles, twisting and turning to look about the room.

Deciding he'd rather not see what exactly their weaponry did if they pointed it at him, he quietly left the room, slipping past several more that remained to stand guard at the entrance. Taking a right and walking past a few more found him at the exit ramp, standing right across from individuals wearing unrelated clothing from the soldiers, save two individuals. Both looked as if they were following a military dress code. At least, the man was following it to the letter, and two insignia that indicated his rank; which were general, if what he read up on was correct.

Though the one with the white hair which covered one of her two icy blue eyes looked a little more flamboyant. He supposed including the dueling sabre made her look more like a fencer, but the garters were a very odd addition to the look. Add in her bust poking out from her jacket, and one would've thought they might've had a weird kind of fetish going on back home.

Only on Remnant, eh?

{Atlas General and Headmaster}  
 **[ James Ironwood]  
**(Cyborg)

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Aura:  
400/400**

 **Current Buffs:  
[Cybernetic Limb]:  
Increased strength and reaction time.**

{Atlas Specialist}  
 **[ Winter Schnee]**

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Aura:  
280/280**

' _Huh...never met another cyborg before...I think.'_ Jonas thought leisurely. Quietly he walked around them, taking in their companions.

The other two he didn't recognize stood a ways off from the first two. One looked older than the rest, with messy silver grey hair and brown eyes behind small shaded spectacles. They wore a black suit, along with a green shirt under a darker green buttoned vest, and a cowl that hung around his neck, with a small cross placed at the forefront.

The one standing next to him was the textbook definition of strict-yet-sexy school teacher, now with cape! A pleated top with a _huge_ keyhole neckline that gave a rather decent view of her assets, and a high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and brownish-black stockings along with black boots with bronze heels. A black and purple cape with bronze diamond beads that ended with arrow tails ran down past her hips. Her blonde hair was parted in the front, and a pretty large ringlet fell down the side of her face, with the rest tied in a bun at the back. She held a collapsible riding crop in her hand, which hilariously added on to her dominatrix teacher look.

Honestly, after living with a dryad for over nine years, he couldn't say that look was way odd.

Still funny though.

{Ozmas Incarnation}  
 **[ Ozpin]**

 **Aura:  
455/455**

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Mana:  
{ERROR}**

{Deputy Headmistress}  
 **[ Glynda Goodwitch]**

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Aura:  
394/394**

Wait a minute, this guy's used _magic?!_

The man stopped in place, his mouth hanging open until he was brought back to sense when a patrolling soldier nearly ran into him, having just barely moved out of the way before he blew his own cover.

' _Time for questions later.'_ He ended that line of thought quickly in his head. His eyes quietly wandered to the last two, of whom he already knew from two months ago. Qrow looked just as shabby as ever, though he would admit he looked a bit cleaner than he did before.

Amber looked _significantly_ better, the colour having returned to her skin. The black scarring was barely even there anymore, having very faint lines one could only find if they looked hard enough. Most likely, it was just leftover markings from the taint that would leave in time. Not to say he wouldn't keep a bottle of Holy Water on hand just in case.

Now that he got a better look at her, she looked rather nice when she cleaned up. Her shoulder length hair wasn't an absolute mess now, falling around her head like a curtain, with her bangs ending around her eyebrows. A brown vest with a feathered pendant and Leather corset covered her off-white blouse a bit, with a small shoulder strap that had a few small pouches on it, and bore a gold pauldron on her left shoulder as well as a bracer on her right forearm while two bracelets were on her left wrist. Black pants ran under leather leggings, which also made their way under golden greaves at her knees. He would have said something about their weight, but with Aura and everything...

{Crow of Misfortune}  
 **[ Qrow Branwen]**

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Aura:  
413/413**

 **Current Ailments:  
{Misfortune}:  
Bad luck follows you.  
[Drunk]:  
Perception and movement are affected.**

{Fall Maiden}  
 **[ Amber Tawny]**

 **Health:  
100/100**

 **Aura:  
486/486**

 **Mana:  
50/50  
0/0**

 **Current Buffs:  
[{Hermits Blessing}]:  
Gain 50 separate MP.  
Gain mastered control over magic.**

It was as if his HUD was progressively evolving as he went. Taking in every little thing about Aura he read up on and applying it. Ever since he had started looking into it the thing had begun updating every now and then. It even learned to display certain information about a persons Semblance, though it varied depending on if it was an Active Semblance or a Passive Semblance; meaning that if ones ability simply ran in the background like Qrows did, then it was considered Passive, while an Active required them to be in immediate use in order for them to pop up for him.

Though, what Qrow had was more than a little worrying. Just how strong was its effect? Was that why he looked like such a mess?

Shaking his mind out of there, he focused on the task at hand. Looking at the six' faces, it appeared as if only two of them, namely the ones in uniform, had intended for this to occur. Both Ozpin and Glynda looked quite peeved at him, their eyes flicking in his direction every now and again, while Qrow looked to have expected it, but wasn't any happier about it than they were. Amber herself instead appeared worried; whether it was for him or for the soldiers, he couldn't say, but it told him that she did not see this coming either.

At least they sided with him on the thought that this was too much.

Hopefully anyway.

But what could he do right now? He could reveal himself right now. Probably scare the pants off of them too.

Buuuut that might end up with him surrounded and having guns pointed his way. And while he could probably deal with said problem, he really didn't want a cause for escalation.

His eyes wandered around the area, anything that might've gave him a bad idea, and his vision stopped upon a directory.

He couldn't keep the grin from popping up behind his mask.

* * *

"Honestly, what did you expect when you pulled that stunt?!" Glynda was irate with the General, laying into him with a ferocity only seen when she disciplined rowdy students. The man in the line of fire had a large grimace on his face, but no one save possibly Winter seemed in the mood to intervene on his behalf. "We could have at least taken the time to hear him out, but there you went and scared him off by flooding the vents with _sleeping gas_ and storming the ship! And now the students are asking questions we don't have an answer for!"

Amber was just doing her best to tune out the noise as they made their way back up to Ozpins office. The elevator was a little packed though, but at least Ironwood couldn't hide from her.

Really, she agreed with her. Jonas seemed pretty reasonable, if a...little eccentric. If they asked, he would've more than likely told the truth. Hell, he admitted that he knew what she was when they first met. Even showed her he was exactly the same, too. Given the time, he probably would have explained everything that he knew of, and largely hadn't done anything wrong enough to warrant such a reaction. Wouldn't have been surprising if he was long gone.

' _Will we ever see him again?'_ She sighed, sparing a look at Qrow, who gave her a nod of understanding before Ozpin cut in.

"While I don't condone the choice James made, there's very little we can do about it now." He said firmly, giving the General a disappointed glance, which he opted to simply look away from. Ozpin sighed. "The best we can do is to wait and see if he attempts to contact us again. Hopefully, considering what both Qrow and Amber told about him, he will be forgiving enough to give us another chance to talk."

Most of them could only nod to that. There wasn't much else they could do. Hell, the guy vanished from the ships cameras just before the soldiers boarded. It would not have been odd if he could skip town the same way.

The elevator gave a small ding as it hit the top floor, and the doors parted open.

To their surprise, they found out they weren't alone.

"You know-" Jonas said, leaning back in Ozpins chair with his feet on his desk and a hand under his chin. "-If you don't mind my personal opinion, greeting a guy with knock-out gas and soldiers armed to the teeth isn't exactly the smartest move you could make. I mean, it's kind of a turn off, isn't it?" He gave them a grin. "Good thing I'm willing to hear ya out, yeah?"

A familiar shiver ran down her spine. He looked a little different from the last time she saw him. His gloves were armoured now, and she thought his hair grew out a little bit, too.

Winter moved to draw her blade, but was stopped with a motion from her superior. Professor Goodwitchs mouth hung open slightly while Professor Ozpin stared at him with minimal surprise.

Qrow and Amber though? Well, Qrow rolled his eyes and sighed, somehow having guessed things might've turned out this way. And Amber couldn't stop the small childish smile from growing on her face.

She had only known him for a couple of hours at most, yet seeing him pull this was not all that shocking to her. Her laughter was barely held back.

"Hope you don't mind, I kind of let myself in." Jonas pulled his feet of the desk and moved to stand. "I mean I would have greeted you when I got here, but I didn't feel particularly safe with a bunch of guys running all over the place searching for me. Figured here would be the better bet. Less people."

"...Fair reasoning." Ozpin said after a moment with a nod. "Apologies for putting you through that. We ourselves hadn't known until James came with a small squad."

"Jumping the gun much?" He retorted with a raised eyebrow. Said general gave a narrowed stare. "Dude, you don't even _know me_ , why the hell did you feel the need to pull that stunt?"

"I only wish to maintain peace."

"Makes me wonder if you know the difference between Peace and Quiet." He gave him an unimpressed expression, slowly making his way up to them. "At any rate, I'm not here to argue with you on that. I only came here to talk, just like I said I would."

Jonas stood in front of Ozpin and held his hand out.

"I apologize for not saying my name sooner. My name is Jonas Everblue. It's nice to finally make your acquaintance."

The Headmaster took the proffered hand with a small smile. "Likewise. I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. And again, I apologize for these unfortunate circumstances."

"Ahh, I've dealt with worse. Don't worry about it." He said with a grin.

"Is this another one of those 'You don't want to know' type deals?" Amber cut in, giving him one of her own smirks.

"Depends on which ones I decide to talk about." Jonas dryly replied, meeting hers with one of his own. He gave her a quick look over. "You're certainly looking better."

"I _feel_ better." She laughed. The warrior gave an expression that said 'I'll bet'. Slowly, he made his way towards her, standing a fair distance away from her for the comfort of her friends. His arms raised a bit before freezing, hesitance briefly flashing on his face.

"...If I may?" He asked for permission. She nodded despite the small, unwarranted amount of trepidation in her stomach. Slowly he reached up, gently cupping her face in his hands.

A blush broke out as he examined her; turning her head in one direction or another, looking for seemingly anything out of the ordinary. His eyes lingered on the fading markings on her cheek for a few moments longer, before he gave a small nod and grunt of approval before letting go.

"Looks like its clearing up nicely..." Jonas mumbled quietly to himself, barely being heard by the rest of the rooms occupants. His eyes met with hers. "You been sleeping alright?"

"Yeah. Aside from the weird dreams I got in the beginning, no problems."

"Nothing unexpected there." A couple of eyebrows from the others were raised in curiosity. Jonas rolled his eyes at their reaction. "Look, lots of weird shit tends to happen with magic. Wouldn't even know where to start."

"Maybe you could start by telling us how you knew of hers?" Ironwood cut to the point, his sharpened gaze never leaving the magician.

"Like I told her before, I get a feeling in my eyes." He shrugged.

"What _kind_ of feeling?"

Jonas stared at him unblinkingly for a few seconds. Slowly, another one of his smiles grew on his face; one that seemed glad at the question.

"Not bad, kid." The magician replied in genuine respect with a good natured chuckle. His tone became more serious as he began again, walking in the direction of one of the few stone pillars that accentuated the room. "To be more specific, I can see the current state of someones being just by looking a them. That includes numbers; whether they be Health, Aura, or Magic. This also lets me see an individuals Semblance, as well as any current benefits or ailments one might be suffering from at that point in time. Added to that, I can see titles as well; which are usually something meaningful to the person in question. It was partially due to this ability of mine that I knew what I needed to fix the damage they did to Miss Tawny here."

"That's... quite hard to believe, don't you think?" Professor Goodwitch finally cut into the conversation. "Do you have any proof of this?"

"Yup." He said without pause, ending with a popping sound. The man gave a quick glance to Ozpin. "I could say one word, and I imagine one of you might accept what I say almost instantly."

"And that would be?" Winter said with no little edge in her tone.

Jonas grinned a smug grin as his eyes latched fully on the headmasters own.

"Tell me something Ozpin." Jonas began, walking behind the pillar. "Do you prefer to go by Ozpin, or Ozma? It's honestly a tricky thing with Reincarnators."

The clatter of his cane echoed in the room, a tension that once was only there in varying amounts now serving to choke some of them. Amber looked over towards the Professor in confusion at some of their reactions, and found that his words had managed to get a full reaction out of the man. Winter herself seemed just as lost, which slowly morphed to concern at the sight of her commanding officers face turning chalk white and his pupils shrinking to pin-pricks.

Ozpin himself wasn't very far off himself, looking honest to god _terrified_. Or at least what she could best assume would be terrified for him. He had managed to mostly regain his composure, but his eyes had hardened, a far cry from the soft gaze he had carried day to day, and his hands trembled at his sides; showing just how badly he was shaken by a few words

"H-how?" Was all he could say in response.

"Again, it's one of my abilities." They all turned their heads to find him walking out from behind another pillar on the opposite side of the room. He looked at the faces of the rooms other occupants. "...Sorry for outing you if I did. I don't mean to shunt you into the open like that, but I needed you to understand that I'm not exactly what you'd consider a regular person."

"That is very much clear, thank you." Ozpin sighed. "...Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?"

"Yeah, I'm an alien."

There was a significant lack of reaction from anyone, other than looking at him as if he were a loon.

"...Come again?"

"Can't really say I'm surprised by that reaction." He chuckled, though retaining his serious attitude. "I am not from this world, Ozpin. I hail from a place with no Dust, or Aura, or Grimm. It's rather nice, actually. A lot more populated though."

"And you think we should take what your saying seriously?" Winter asked incredulously. "You look exactly like the rest of us, not to mention the fact you're speaking to us in the same language!"

"Nothing saying I couldn't have learned it, you know." Jonas rolled his eyes. "I _have_ been here for over nine months at this point. And that's not even considering other factors."

"Oh _please_." She scoffed. Her eyes turned toward her superior. "Sir, I respectfully ask we arrest him for questioning. If he thinks he can just wander in here and start spouting such wild declarations without consequences, then he's a damned fool."

"Granted." The General allowed, his own hardened glare focused on the man in front of them all. "I'm rather interested in how he knows all this himself."

"You will _not_ be making a war-zone on campus grounds, James." Ozpin intervened as he moved to pick up his cane, giving the two of them a hard look. "The current situation is already tense enough. We don't need to add to it anymore than we already have."

Ozpin turned, giving their visitor his full attention now. "I assume you intend on telling us everything about you, correct?"

"Every juicy little detail." He nodded.

"And what, leave him free to spout secrets our group has been keeping for how many generations now? We have little reason to believe him other than on his word, which is incredibly unreasonable given what he has just said. It is better to keep this situation under our control until we can confirm its validity."

"Would you just wait a second?!" Glynda shouted. The man gave her a cursory glance, but looked to be listening. "Can we not resort to incarceration and interrogation as our first option? Look at him! He's not even doing anything remotely hostile! The only reason I can see that you'd want him locked up is because you don't like the lack of control you have right now! Do you know what kind of picture that paints you in?!"

Both Amber and Qrow looked to agree with her, staring them in the eye with no small amount of disappointment.

 _'Seriously?!'_ Amber mentally ranted, airing her frustration the only way she could at the moment. It wasn't like they'd listen if she said anything right now. _'The guy says one odd thing, which is weird and hard to believe, yes, and suddenly you want to lock him up?! What the heck is_ wrong _with these two?!'_

Ironwood merely shook his head with a sigh. Without saying a word, he flicked his head towards Jonas.

"Sir." Winter saluted, reaching for her sabre. When she couldn't immediately find its hilt she looked down, and to her surprise, she found the blade missing from its sheath. "What th-"

"If you idiots are done?" Jonas called out. To their shock, they found her blade in his hand. He was looking over it in great detail, marveling in its design. He muttered in awe to himself for a moment before focusing back on them in slight embarrassment when he realized where he was. "Er- anyway, there's a better way to tell, if you have the tech for it. Just test my blood."

"...What?"

"Yeah, you know what I mean, right? Just do a DNA test between me and several people on Remnant. If it's too different, you'll know I'm not lying."

"How do you..?"

"A friend of mine from back in the day was a nurse. She knew a thing or two about protein counts between species, especially considering just how many she had to work with back then. Look-" He gave them all a gaze of understanding. "-I get that its hard to believe a word I'm saying, I really do. So how about I try to give some credence to the possibility?"

"By what method?" Ozpin asked, his expression genuinely curious.

Jonas sent them a small grin, before turning himself enough so they could see his back. Confused expressions turned to stupefaction as six bulges started growing on his back, before bursting forth as six long white tendrils, with small flecks of light flaking off of it like starlight. The tendrils extended fully outward for a moment, and then flung forward with enough force to blow a small gust of wind their way; sending their hair into a dishevelled state.

"Does this help?" He questioned them with a smirk, giving his wings a small wiggle.

They looked at him and then each other for a brief few seconds until they all moved closer together for a private conversation.

"Right, okay, does anyone know any Faunus who might have those?" Qrow asked the obvious question. Both Glynda and Winter merely shook their heads, clearly still trying to process what they just saw.

"Not that I know of." Amber shook her head.

"In all my days, I've never once encountered a being with anything remotely similar. It is possible that he might be a heretofore undiscovered sub-species but..." The headmaster confirmed. "I believe it would be safe to say that this may give traction to his story. Would any of you like to say otherwise?"

Eyes wandered towards Ironwood, who bore a look that seemed more than a little constipated. Amber would have giggled had she herself not been here to witness his bullheadedness.

Thank god it didn't turn into a brawl. The mess would have been catastrophic.

The General sighed, giving them a small nod that he too hadn't seen anything like this before either. Silently, they broke off, turning their attention back towards their guest.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd still like to have a sample of your blood to test." Ironwood asked, though it still sounded more like an order in her opinion.

"I kind of assumed." He grinned, and began walking towards a shelving unit that had a few drawers and a coffee machine. Pulling some of the drawers open, he reached in and grabbed a coffee cup, placing it on the worktop. He messed with one of his bracers for a second, eventually prying off his glove, before taking Winters weapon and slicing his hand open without hesitation. The red blood began to pool into the cup, only stopping when it was half full as his Aura healed the wound, leaving behind no noticeable scarring.

Jonas reached for a couple of napkins, wiping off both his hand and the blade of her weapon, and abruptly tossed it towards her. She caught it in a slight fumble while the man returned the glove onto his hand and arm.

"Here ya are." He said after a few seconds, holding it aloft in front of Ironwood who took it with no small amount of disgust.

"I rather liked that cup..." Ozpin mourned, much to everyones slight amusement or annoyance.

"Should've said something sooner then. Now if you all don't mind, can we kindly move this conversation along?"

"Of course." He replied, more than willing to get to the point. "Though if you don't mind my saying so, I'm surprised you were so enthusiastic to speak to us. As I've come to hear, you're a man with a great many abilities at your disposal, if what you said to my colleagues is to be believed. So why come here at all?"

"For two reasons, actually." Jonas stated. "The first of which was to give you, and by extension the Vale Council, an offer that would be mutually beneficial for the both of us."

"And that would be?" Professor Goodwitch finally cut into the conversation.

"You'll understand in a moment." He said. His eyes wandered back to Ambers own. "Apologies Miss Tawny, could you aid me in a small experiment? Nothing too intrusive on your part, I just need you to do something for me."

"...And that would be what, exactly?" She asked, obvious caution in her tone. To her comfort, Qrow stood close by her, eyes directly focused on their visitor.

"Relax, you don't even need to move." He laughed. Raising his hand, the man closed his eyes in concentration. It was after a couple of seconds that a strange object, much like a hologram, formed just above his hands open palm.

It was quite a sight to look at, now that she had a better look at it, though outlined with red instead of coloured a full purple this time. In the center was the symbol of a burning flame that was surrounded by a circle. Beyond that was these strange letters she couldn't understand, along with another, larger circle. At its edges were eight diamonds that encircled the rest, laying just beyond its borders.

"It's a simple fireball spell." He said, announcing the answer to the question she, and no doubt the others, were just thinking of. "One of the most basic spells you can learn. What I want you to do sweetie, is to take a very close look at it. Memorize its features; every little thing that you can."

"Alright..."

"Now, once you think you've gotten everything in your head, I want you to close your eyes." She gave him a little look at that, but followed along anyway. "Focus on nothing but the image you saw and every little detail."

"Is there a point to this?" Ironwood asked, annoyance clearly laced in his tone.

"Ignore him, he's a distraction for the moment." The Generals face turned a few shades redder, but remained unnoticed by all except his subordinate. "Now, I want you to hold your hand outward, with your palm open and facing the ceiling, and imagine that the spell is floating just above it. You have to believe that its there; that it being there is reality."

"Okay, what next?" Amber said tiredly. She really hoped there was some good meaning in doing all of this. She liked the man a little bit, but the emotional roller-coaster they were all dealing with was leaving her too drained to deal with this crap.

"This is the important part, alright? I need you to remember the feeling of your magic. Remember how it feels when it moves across your body and out into the world."

Well that wasn't too hard. She still remembered the feeling she got when she first received them. That electric trill that ran from the deepest parts of her soul, down her spine and into her arms and legs. She still felt it every time she made herself fly into the sky or fired an attack.

"Now, pour some of your magic into your palm, and into the spell. And remember, you have to believe that it's there."

She let out a small sigh, but followed his instructions. The believing part wasn't that hard to do. Her magic itself operated partially on that. She was just a kid when she became a Maiden, so she had a habit of using it at the most random times imaginable.

One time when she was tending the fields, she often imagined she wasn't sweating in the sun when she was baking alive. Then came the electric feeling, and she ended up getting douse with water out of nowhere. Another time she pretended she wasn't cold in the winter, got that feeling again, and the house spontaneously combusted.

She only realized it for what it was when Ozpin came and explained to her. Her parents, bless them, had feared what was occurring was Aura-related, and hastened to find an expert in that field.

She shook her head to get her mind out of her memories and focused on finding that feeling again. Slowly, ever so slowly, that tingling sensation returned to her from her heart. She willed it to move, and it quickly made its way from her core up to her shoulder, flowing down her arm like a flood much to her shock.

"Whoa-kay, too much, TOO MUCH!"

 _*_ _ **FWOOSH!**_ _*_

"Oh my-!"

Ambers eyes shot open at the exertion she was feeling, and to her shock she found a flamethrower spewing from her hand and into the glass ceiling above. Qrow had just dived out of the way when it started, the ends of his cape covered in embers that he quickly stamped out, while the others quickly backed up in complete shock. Jonas himself held a face of regret and worry.

A red glow surrounded her arm, very similar to the Jonas' own back in the cabin. Trepidation grew into full on fear, as she realized just how little control she had over her powers.

"StopstopstopstOPSTOP!" Jonas shouted in a panic over the flames, reaching out and forming a green circle. Almost immediately after it vanished did the fire begin to shrink rapidly, ending up the size you'd find on a lighter. Amber quickly let the feeling go, and the fire quickly followed suit, petering out with a small whimper.

Silence quickly returned back into the room. No one said anything, bar the occasional swear coming from the scythe-wielder at the charred end of his cape.

Then, abruptly, as if to add to the feeling of dumbstruck surprise, the sprinklers in the room began to spray water on everyone in the room. For a moment, everyone looked at each other with wide eyes. Some for different reasons than others.

It was Amber who broke the silence first. Her mouth trembled silently, which then broke into quiet giggling, and escalated into full on raucous laughter. Most everyone stared at her like she had grown a second head.

She didn't care though. That was hilarious!

* * *

 _ **A Few Minutes Later...**_

* * *

"Apologies for that." Jonas said regretfully. "I expected something similar to that to happen, but I didn't count on how much strength was being put into it."

"You say that now." Amber snorted, again standing by Qrow. "What, have you never taught anyone how to use magic before?"

"The most I had to go on in that regard was how my master taught me. And he's...A little weird." He sighed after a moment. "To be fair, you're a pretty irregular case for this considering your abilities."

"I take it that was unusual?" Professor Goodwitch asked, wiping down her lenses with a cloth as she stood next to Ozpin, who had filled up one of his mugs and taken his seat. Qrow himself was leaning on the desk in front of them, looking more than a little lost in his head.

The room had become absolutely soaked before they could manage to turn the sprinkler system for the office off, thoroughly destroying any paperwork that happened to have been left out during the talks, which wasn't many to begin with; what with it being a Saturday. They all would have needed a change of clothes, had Jonas not had the ability to quickly dry clothing and deal with the puddles that had built up in the room.

Seeing Professor Goodwitch with an Afro would forever haunt the dreams of everyone there.

And there they would stay. Because if anyone said anything, she'd probably kill them all before dying of embarrassment.

"Pretty much, yeah." He admitted. "Normally, when one uses magic for the first time, it wouldn't be all that powerful when it came into action. By the looks of it, while she had the Mana Control, by which I mean the ability to pump out the most power in a spell for as little mana as possible, the ability to properly direct that power was mitigated when she attempted to control it directly herself instead of allowing the powers she carries to do it for her. Thus, when it came down to her own abilities, it was abysmal."

"Hey!" Amber shouted indignantly.

"Hey, no offense intended to you, sweetheart. It's not unexpected. Your powers did it for you up until now, so your own ability to feel out and control and direct it yourself was bound to be on the poor side. In the future, I intend to fix that."

Even still she continued to grumble. It was pretty cute, actually.

"It would have been preferable if you could have done so somewhere better suited for it, wouldn't you agree?" Ozpin sipped his coffee.

"True, I probably should have accounted for the factor. But, again, the troopers wandering around outside were making me less inclined to consider such actions."

"A fair point." He nodded. "Still, I would ask that all further attempts be done in a better location. My paperwork is hard enough to deal with as it is."

"If you all are done?" The General cut in, standing with his subordinate a little ways from Ozpins desk. He glared at Jonas. "What was the point in doing all that? She could have burned down the building or caused serious harm! Possibly both!"

Amber felt like she could agree with him for once there. It was incredibly dangerous to attempt it in such a cramped space. There was a good deal of potential fuel in the room, and while they all had Aura to protect them, none of them wanted to waste their time needlessly on something that could have been easily prevented.

"The point, my friend, was to prove that the magic I use is universal." Jonas pointedly replied. "Tell me, what do you think it means if both Amber and I can use it?"

Everyone considered the events in muted silence, lost in their heads.

"...That not any one individual of a specified race or gender can use it?" Winter guessed.

"Yes! Exactly!" He smiled in response, clapping his hands as he did a little spin where he stood in the middle of the room. "Everyone can use it; not just the Maidens! The only reason she's able to wield it the way she does is because of her position. But the fact that I showed that her abilities are in fact the very same ones I myself wield, A guy who's completely unrelated to Maidens entirely to the point that none of you knew about me. A guy who, by your own account, shouldn't have magic at all says a great deal. I imagine it'd throw a great deal of information you guys have right out the window!"

"...Oh my god." Amber said, the answer dawning on her. And by the look of both Glynda and Winters features they had just come upon the answer themselves.

"Yup." He grinned.

"Could you fill those of us who don't get it yet?" Qrow asked, looking between them all with building tension.

"Qrow, I built up my magic on my own." Jonas lied. They didn't need to know he cheated on his mana pool, not when he was telling them an important truth. "I had a teacher who got me started from _zero_ , and grew me into the Magician I am now. Hell, I have a book detailing every discovery made over several millennia!"

 _That_ got the reaction he wanted. Realization dawned on the rest of them, followed by what looked to be surprise, terror and excitement.

"Oh. _Oh shit_ , so you're saying-"

"I know magic." Jonas smiled a toothy smile. "And I can teach it to your students, if you like."

* * *

 **Right, so ya'll probably noticed I redesigned the character sheets.**

 **Love it? Hate it? Feel free to tell me on Straw Poll! Just type in my username and tell me what you think!**


	11. Proof of Honesty

**The Cosmic Cycle**

 **Chapter Eleven**

 **Proof of Honesty**

* * *

 _ **A Couple Of Weeks Later...**_

* * *

"If you think you'll get away with this..!" A slightly tubby old man in a high-end three piece suit snarled at Jonas, following behind a small group of others; each of them with varying expressions ranging from his own to genuine amusement. If looks could kill from the glares he was getting from a few of them, he'd have long since been dead.

"Okay, again, it's for everyone's benefit, and I already have." Jonas stated bluntly, completely undeterred. He raised his uncovered arm, a tattoo of thick chains running around his wrist. "Or do I need to go over the contract I had you and the rest of the council sign again?"

The man simply growled in response, storming out from Beacons Amphitheatre in a huff.

"...Bloody hardliners." Jonas mumbled when he was sure they were out of earshot, letting out a small sigh. Doing what he did had basically removed any possibility of the quiet life he craved so badly. The only solace was the end result said choice would bring. That alone calmed his mind into a focused precision he hadn't felt since the terraria days. If anything, it would help to keep him on task for the future ahead.

He got a light blush when he looked towards his audience of three, finding Ozpin giving him a small genuine smile in between sipping his beverage. Professor Goodwitch had dropped her pen at some point during his conversations, looking well and truly surprised. It looked rather unusual on her actually. As if she had barely if ever made such an impression before.

And Amber? Well, if the large smile on her face that was partially hidden behind her hands and the slightly watery eyes were any indication...

"You uh... you alright there Amber?" Jonas asked after a moments hesitation.

"Am I alright?!" Amber practically shouted, knocking Glynda out of the trance. "Jonas, that was amazing!"

"I-I'm not sure I follow. All I did was make them do the right thing." He scratched the back of his head, blush deepening. He took to busying himself with putting his glove back on. "Thank you for helping me convince them, by the way. What you did made things run a lot smoother than they could have been."

"Considering the end result, I was more than willing to." She said, though she was secretly preening from the praise.

"It was about time they did this." Ozpin admitted. The rest of them nodded at that. "It was a shame it took so long to happen, as glad as I am to see it come to fruition. If you don't mind my asking Mister Everblue, what was it that you made them sign? It looked as if it were a normal contract, yet the tattoos both you and they received from signing it says there's more to it."

"You would be correct." He confirmed, flipping the sheet backwards and revealing another Runic Circle that looked far more complex than the one he showed a couple of weeks ago; having a few smaller circles inlaid at certain points with their own scrawl, along with elemental symbols. "What I had them sign was something called a Magic Contract. It was devised by Magicians in ages past in order to assure demands made from both parties were met, and was further built upon centuries later by making them as detailed as possible to ensure there wasn't any cheating the system via loopholes." Jonas tapped his wrist. "The type of tattoo is also an indicator of the type of contract; often looking like a string or rope for the more tame versions. The one I used was a little more serious, obviously, in order to make sure they follow their side of the deal."

"And what if they don't?" Professor Goodwitch asked curiously.

"Then I hope they don't mind the feeling of intense pain from their testicles and ovaries pervading their every moment of living."

The three winced, their hands unknowingly covered their crotch in reaction.

"That may be a little much, don't you think?" Ozpin, ever the voice of reason, asked.

"Considering the track record for most of Remnants leading authority, I'd rather not take any chances." He retorted flatly. "Besides, all they have to do is act like decent human beings."

"I can hear the complaints already..." Glynda sighed, a hand cupping her face.

"Hey, they signed it. Not my fault they couldn't read the fine print...which is odd considering their profession, actually." He briefly considered. "But since were speaking of these..."

He 'Pocketed' the paper, as he liked to call it, and pulled out another of similar make before handing it to the deputy.

"What's this?" She asked, eyes quickly roaming the page with a raised eyebrow.

"A contract meant for both you and Ozpin." Jonas replied. "Figured if I'm gonna paint a target on my back by throwing myself out into the open, I may as well do it properly."

Ozpin quickly followed suite as he looked over her shoulder, eyes turned towards the contract. They read mostly in silence, with small mutters as they echoed the writing for the section stating what they would have to follow. Amber quietly peeked over her other shoulder in curiosity.

 **I, Beacon Headmaster Ozpin, and Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, do hereby solemnly swear:**

 **-To be honest to Magic Professor Jonas Everblue whenever asked questions pertaining to his profession, whatever that may be.**

 **-To be helpful to Magic Professor Jonas Everblue in his profession, whatever that may be, so long as it applies to our profession.**

 **-To not commit anything sexual or scientific causing bodily harm towards him without consent.**

 **-To avoid causing grievous harm causing permanent crippling or death towards Magic Professor Jonas Everblue, unless it is in self-defense or defense of the students.**

 **-That I understand the lessons in the use of magic requires different tactics in its teaching, and to avoid being needlessly intrusive in its instruction.**

 **-To grant any three wishes to Magic Professor Jonas Everblue, so long as they will not be harmful to allies, civilians, staff, or students alike.**

"Oh? Nothing related for our inner circle?" Ozpin stated more than asked with a hint of surprise.

"I was tempted, but decided not to force the issue for the time being. If it becomes required that I know, then we can update the contract. Don't worry. I left a line stating as such."

The degree of trust he was giving them was certainly appreciated, and James would no doubt be relieved to hear that. Even if he would still be wary.

Jonas gave a nod of acknowledgement at Glynda when she cleared her throat. "What do you mean when you say 'not to be needlessly intrusive'?"

"Mostly that you don't interfere with my teaching methods without good reason." He explained. "You can still voice opinions both inside and outside of my classes of course, and you can offer suggestions on how to better their learning, since lord knows I certainly have no experience in this kind of setting."

"And the three wishes?" Ozpin inquired.

"Hey, I'm throwing myself into this shit deal. I may as well get something out of it." Jonas groused. Though it could've been worded better, they could at least understand that.

"And what do you intend on wishing for, if anything? Do keep in mind that even though I am a headmaster, there is very little I can do on my end beyond covering for you."

"Honestly? I'm not too sure myself. Guess we'll have to see what comes up." He shrugged. "You might want to check my side to see if I missed anything."

Taking him at his word, their eyes quickly roamed to his portion of the contract.

 **I, Magic Professor Jonas Everblue, do hereby solemnly swear:**

 **-To apply my full knowledge and skill of magic in the education of both students and beacon faculty at my discretion, for a length of no less than four school years.**

 **-To be honest to the Beacon Academy staff and students in both the history and knowledge of Magic, as well as any information pertaining to his profession, whatever they may be.**

 **-To be helpful to the staff and students of Beacon Academy, whatever they may be, so long as it applies to my profession.**

 **-To not commit anything sexual without consent.**

 **-To avoid causing grievous harm causing permanent crippling or death to civilians, staff, or students by the standards of the kingdom of Vale unless it is in self-defence, or in defence of the students.**

 **-To avoid causing unnecessary damage to buildings or surroundings within Vale and its surrounding towns as much as is viably possible.**

"You've been rather thorough, haven't you?" Ozpin said after a moment, blinking at the detail he put in.

"My master made sure of that, believe me. Especially so considering my profession back in the day. And since _Sir-jails-a-lot_ looks to have it out for me, I kind of have to be."

Both professors snorted at this, knowing clear as day who he was referencing.

About a week after his appearance in Beacon, his blood was determined to have been unlike any other on Remnant; almost completely foreign save for a few small similarities in their physiology, and his method of speaking to another, as he had confirmed the presence of beings who could speak to others through their minds. But that was where it ended.

There were far less genes from an average citizen that determines one hair colour. Theoretically, the pheo and eumelanin in his blood only allowed for hair to have colours that ranged from red, blonde, brown, and black. Nothing else beyond that, which threw the Atlas Scientists through a loop. Normally, colours could range across the spectrum instead of any one area, due to what they had called 'sutomelanin' and 'leomelanin'.

Another glaring fact was that Jonas' body was built to be far more sturdy than most Hunters. From what could be shown in testing, his red blood cells were able to absorb considerably more Oxygen, pointing towards a higher stamina, and possibly even strength. The white blood cells were also pretty different from others; stopping infections and bugs with greater gusto than anything they had seen from humans and faunus. Going off of all that data, they couldn't help but question just how durable his body was, as they hadn't yet gone through proper combat testing. His fight with Amber's assailants, while being a small example, had been managed due to a surprise attack, so they had no clue how he would manage in a proper one on one fight.

Things exploded into motion after that. The scientists that studied what little they were given had wanted to proceed further; by force if necessary, which was almost immediately turned down by both Ozpin and Goodwitch. James himself intervened, telling them that they were Scientists, not Lunatics, and that any further actions or questions would have consequences.

Jonas truly did appreciate the help, but the suspicious looks he kept getting from the general stopped him from saying anything.

"But why include a clause for sexual consent?"

"There was... an incident that made me add it in whatever future contracts I made." He said after a moments hesitation, a small grimace on his face. "One of the nobles I helped back in the day tried to screw me over by framing me for a crime I never committed. This was the result of that."

"Hmm..." Ozpin hummed, curious about the details but allowing to let it be. "I'm assuming there is a penalty in place for us as well. What would we end up with if we happen to ignore this?"

"A feeling of nausea that'll grow as one persists. Sticks around even after they've emptied their stomachs too, so it makes for a good incentive."

"Did you place a penalty for yourself?" Professor Goodwitch asked, raising an eyebrow when he nodded. "What would it be, by chance?"

"Death."

The headmaster blinked in delayed surprise while his deputy choked.

"...Why?!" Amber nearly shouted, collectively asking the question they all had.

"Mainly to show you three and everyone else how seriously I'm taking the lives of everyone around me." He stated matter-of-factly. "You've got to understand, by doing what i have, I've effectively usurped their power in order for them to get me to teach magic. The rich and famous rule, and they don't like it when another forces them into an agreement that, while it may benefit the kingdom in some amazing ways, and getting them some brownie points from the local populace, pretty much gives _them_ very little out of the exchange."

They all looked on at him. Ozpin and Glynda sharing varying looks of sombre understanding. Amber tried to find some way to refute that knowledge, but was unable to say anything.

Jonas sighed. "At least playing it out this way will give me an ironclad alibi. They won't be able to play the blame game with me about hurting students or civilians for shits and giggles. All I'll have to do at this point is avoid causing unwarranted destruction or casualties if you guys send me out on missions or something, and I'm in the clear."

All Amber could do was looked towards the ground. She had hoped that their better nature would assert themselves for something so beneficial to everyone, but...

"In fairness to them, not all those on the council are really _bad_. Some of them have fairly decent motives." The magician admitted. "It's just that they're often the minority in those positions. They often cannot do much more than the bare minimum. Meanwhile, there are others are driven by certain motives, like fame and fortune, that require a little coaxing in order to get them on your side, or are simply trying to maintain the status quo for fear of losing what little they have; latching onto those who greater power who can help them keep it."

"And the rest?" Ozpin asked.

"Pretty sure you can guess." He answered dryly. The headmaster smiled his small smile, looking to clearly understand what he meant.

"...Do you have a pen?" He plucked it out of the air with ease, turning towards his deputy and laying the paper out on top of her scroll to sign it. Glynda gave a small sigh, but followed along, putting her own name on the agreement. Jonas himself was quick in writing his own name down after pulling his glove off again, and within a few moments, the contract was completed.

The paper rippled and shot into the air after a few scant seconds, followed up by nearly blinding everyone in its presence when it burst into a ball of light. Amber covered her eyes, while the rest of them simply squinted.

Tendrils shot out before any of them could move, latching onto any open wrist it could find. They felt a brief but searing pain, all three of them gritting their teeth. It eventually faded after a moment, and the light quickly receded back into the ball, which quickly faded afterwards.

Their wrists glowed for a fleeting moment, before settling into a black tattoo. Both Ozpin and Glyndas bore the shape of a thick rope; nothing too menacing. After what they saw with the councillors, it probably meant the severity of their penalty should they go against it.

That thought was swiftly confirmed when they looked at their new partner, the tattoo on his wrist looking like large, spiked chains that twisted about the other tattoo like a wave; both of them crossing one another like figure eights.

"And the contract is formed." Jonas said lightly, bearing a small grin. Gravity had reasserted itself around the paper, gently making its way towards the floor. Ozpin made to grab it, and noted with interest that their signatures were now faintly glowing white. Probably a sign of their commitment being in effect.

"You don't seem to be nervous at the death threat you've placed upon yourself." Glynda cut into his odd reverie, keeping more than just a little disquiet hidden behind the neutral expression that scared many a student in the passing years.

"Eh." He shrugged. "Just gotta follow the guidelines, right? Shouldn't be too hard."

"...What kind of man are you, Mister Everblue?" Ozpin said after a moments silence.

"Hmm?" Jonas gave a noncommittal hum.

"Most people, even the hardiest among us, would quail ever so slightly with fear of what they just put themselves into. Though they would try to hide it, one who becomes as old and experienced as we do can notice the small things that give them away; especially among close friends and family. Those who have no such compunction are either insane or severely depressed...So why is it you don't?" The headmaster asked with concern. "What exactly have you gone through to give no reaction, not even a jitter or a shake, to the blade hanging above your neck?"

A long silence reigned in the room. The three of them stared at him, his body unmoving and his eyes like glass. Quietly, very quietly, a small, bitter, tired laugh passed his lips.

"...More than I'd ever care to admit." He replied softly. His voice carried a great deal of exhaustion in it. And though they wanted to ask him further, he quickly shook the mood off before they could, his expression quickly returning to its normal, cocksure look. "In any case, is there anything else we need to do now?"

"I suppose-" Professor Goodwitch sighed. "-The next step would be for you to obtain a Hunter License. We can't have you as a professor of beacon until your ability has been confirmed."

"And what would I need to do to get my card, exactly?" He asked. "We all know I'm too old to attend an academy to get one, not to mention we don't really have that much time on our hands."

"There are other ways to obtain them." Ozpin confirmed. "In one instance, you would have to be the personal protege of a full-fledged hunter, and be be trained by them for no less than five years before they can be recommended to the local hunter board, of which they will be required to test their strength to show they can handle the position."

"Local hunter board?" Jonas raised an eyebrow in curiosity, his attention fully upon him.

"They are the ones who run the day-to-day business for Huntsman and Huntresses alike. Sorting through missions that come in and determining their rank of difficulty. Initially they're labelled with a number that ranges from zero to five before further refining it with a proper hazard level. The degree of difficulty will often depend on where its located, the current conditions of the area, the population of Grimm in said area; as well as what types, and the current state of security for any surrounding towns. The missions themselves however can be anything from fighting Grimm, to others that sometimes involve said villages and towns. Even the main cities of the kingdoms aren't exempt, as often the police and militia are too busy to be everywhere at once, or they simply can't make heads or tails of something. Though usually, the capital and inner towns will be easier to deal with since humanity has a proper hold on those areas." He explained. "Another aspect the board take after is, as I've said earlier, confirming new recruits. Those who have graduated from one of the academies will already have their information forwarded to them, with their rankings being determined in conjunction with their background and degree of experience, as well as their teachers recommendations, or with what I've previously stated with proteges, the hunters who trained them."

Jonas snorted in quiet amusement."...And the one that's viable to me?"

"You would need to head down to the local hunter establishment. There is only one located in every major city; like Vale and Atlas." He clarified with an enlivened grin. "They will put you through a few tests in order to determine whether you have the mettle to be a Hunter, and what you're starting rank will be. Understandably, it will be _much_ harder than the other two options, since you are an unknown with no background."

"That right?" He replied with interest. "This system been in place long?"

"About twenty years, give or take."

"Out of curiosity, your the leader of the Valean Branch of Hunters, right?"

"Yes. And I had quite the load of paperwork previously to sort through before it went into effect." Ozpin said, voice shuddering, as if he was having a terrible flashback. "Everyone, myself included, thought it might be best to divide the work amongst ourselves. I still intervene from time to time, but I do so very rarely nowadays."

"Gotcha." Jonas chuckled. He added sheepishly after a few seconds. "Do you mind directing me there? I...don't really know where everything is yet."

"There is a positioning system within the scroll we gave you." Professor Goodwitch clarified. "Couldn't you use that to find your way?"

"I could try, but I've never _used_ one before." He admitted. "Pretty inept with most tech, for obvious reasons. Been what feels like ages since I've been around technology used for more mundane reasons, and though there was something similar back where I came from, I was too young to actually _need_ it back then. Not to mention the time I came from before Remnant was pretty basic in both Science and Technology, bar a few exceptions. If it's not related to fighting or supporting the former, or wasn't one of the few hobbies I had, I'm not likely to figure out how to use it immediately. Eventually, sure, but not immediately."

"Fair enough, I suppose..." Glynda gave a small nod, followed by a look towards her superior seconds later. "There's no classes today, with the exception of detention. If you could pass the position to someone else for-"

"Of course, Glynda." Ozpin nodded. "I'll have Peter keep an eye on the unruly students."

"...Very well." She sighed another sigh before looking towards their newcomer. "Follow me, I'll guide you to the building."

"Thank you kindly, ma'am." Jonas bowed in gratitude. She looked away from him much to his confusion. Clearing their throat, they turned and walked toward the doors, making their way towards the bullheads. Amber had decided to follow, knowing something interesting was bound to happen, even if she didn't know what.

Ozpin stared on in silence, taking a sip from his drink as his eyes idly wandered back to the contract.

"The coming year is turning out to be quite interesting, isn't it?"

* * *

"Here we are." Glynda gave a small gesture towards the building they stood in front of. It was a large, yet quaint multi-floored building, painted mostly forest green with a mix of beige. Above the main entrance stood the symbol of Vale; two bright green axes crossed with one another, with a laurel of the same hue partially surrounding it like a circle from the bottom.

' _Not bad. Kind of reminds me of home.'_ He thought quietly with nostalgia, again following behind her as she led them in through the admittedly _massive_ front doors. Traffic flowed through the building at a pretty decent pace. The distinction between Hunters and Civilians was easy to distinguish, what with the varying weapons and eccentric clothing the former wore that the latter either refused to wear or simply couldn't afford it. Being a Hunter was a lucrative business, as he learned. Though with the dust costs some weapons had, not including upkeep and repairs the more intricate weapons often required, _and_ any possible hospital bills if shit goes down, he wondered how close to the truth that really was.

A great many of them gave Professor Goodwitch a greeting and a smile, which she quickly returned. Their eyes wandered over to him when they noticed just how tightly clenched her hand was, eyeing him with curiosity and caution. He made a point to ignore it. No point starting a fight here now that everything else was set up. Though he had also added a clause in the contract between him and the council that allowed him to defend himself against anyone from Vale if they made an attempt on his life. At the very least, he needed that little stipulation to make sure that'd he didn't end up dead.

"Over there you'll find the mission boards, where you can choose between jobs in the local area and surrounding towns, or beyond; so long as they match your rank." She waved towards the back of the building where large holographic windows hung on walls; taking up at least half of its space, which was around four hundred feet or so across. "Though if you're more private, you can also talk to any of the clerks located on the left, which is where we are going. You will also be required to meet with them after the completion of a mission in order to collect your reward."

"What are these ranking things, anyway?" He asked. "I heard it in passing earlier, but it was never really explained in detail."

"You will find out in a moment." She replied, walking down one of the empty lines towards one of the open booths.

The clerk was dressed in a three-piece suit that was greenish-black, with a button bearing vales logo on her lapel. She had long auburn hair tied back in three ponytails. One on the back of her head, one halfway down her hair, and another an inch from the tips. Her bangs were parted off center, running off behind her ears.

Upon her noticing them, she gave a large, friendly smile.

"Professor Goodwitch!" She said in a light voice. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Dalia." Glynda gave her a genuine smile. "It is good to see you again. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, actually!" Dalia laughed. "The money I've been making since I've started working here has been doing wonders for my family. Thanks for that, by the way."

"You need not thank me. Your initiative more than proved your competency for the position." She humbly deflected. She gave Jonas a look before moving enough to let him walk forward. A silent gesture if he ever saw one. "I apologize, but this isn't visit between colleagues. I've come today to have him tested for eligibility as a Hunter."

"A pleasure to meet you ma'am." Jonas bowed politely. "My name is Jonas."

"Likewise." She bowed her head. "You can call me Dalia. Is this your first time here?"

"Indeed." He grinned sheepishly. "I'm a little bit behind on the times too, so I might not get everything your saying right off the bat."

"That's fine." She giggled, closing off the booth and exiting the enclosed area with a clipboard. "I'll walk you through it step by step."

"It would be appreciated." He thanked her. Following behind her, he and his little audience found himself in another room located beyond the mission screens.

The room itself had a set of machines similar to one another lining the wall across from them, about one every twenty feet or so. It kind of reminded him of that strongman carnival game back home, only a good deal more complex. The meter, mounted to the wall, was a foot tall, and was levelled from his waist up. A steel podium, a good few feet away from the meter, had half of a black sphere bigger than a large handed mans fist poking out from the top.

There weren't any numbers labelled on it anywhere though, so he hadn't a clue what it was for.

"So what's this?" He asked after a moment.

"An Aura Gauge." She explained. "We use this to determine the strength of an individuals inherent aura level. People who have recently had theirs unlocked, whether it be from another person doing so or from others personally unlocking theirs, come here by law to be tested. Though Hunters often come by here to have their Auras strength retaken every now and again. You'd also find them in Primary and Secondary Combat Schools, for much the same reasons."

"Why would they need them retaken, out of curiosity?"

"Though it hasn't been completely confirmed, scientists have found that the strength of ones Aura can ebb and flow. No one is quite sure why however." Dalia admitted. "Some say it has to do with ones conviction, though even then they aren't quite sure."

That was pretty interesting, actually. It would explain why his is so bloody high to begin with, taking his history into account.

"Right, what do I need to do here?"

"Just put your hand on the sphere and pull your Aura out and into it. The machine will do the rest."

Jonas did just that, resting his hand on said sphere and focusing his mind inward. Looking deep for a few seconds, he found his soul, and therein his magic as well.

Amber had taught him this little trick a little under a week ago with great gusto. He wasn't able to tell the difference between the two initially. Excluding the colours both powers had in regards to his quirks, it was impossible to separate the two into differing entities, but he eventually figured it out under her instruction. He shouldn't have felt anything with his Aura, as he came to learn, since it was essentially the condensed power of his soul. Of himself. Once he figured that out, it got a _lot_ simpler to differentiate them.

Being able to pull one without the other though? Well that was something else entirely. Ten seconds after his Aura poured into the mechanism did the machine begin to spark.

"...Is it supposed to do that?" He asked warily.

She would have spoke if the damned thing didn't take the chance to explode. A bit too violently for a foot tall electronic too, though maybe it had lightning dust in it.

Jonas placed his body in front of Dalia as the shrapnel went flying. He wasn't sure if she had an Aura, as he didn't give her a thorough look, but he didn't want to take chances.

Apparently it wasn't needed, as the pieces stopped just short of his back, covered in a purple glow. Eyes opened from the non-existent impact, looking towards them with puzzlement. A huff alerted him to Professor Goodwitch, who had her arm outstretched towards them, bearing no glow around her crop or arm, but leaving enough of an impression to guess who had stopped the projectiles.

"...Nice timing." He grinned. She simply gave another huff in response, though his attention was grabbed by the girl wrapped in his arms clearing her throat.

"Umm...Could you let me go now?" She asked, a cheek pressed on his chest by his hand.

"Oh! Sorry!" He hopped back a ways. A light blush broke out on his face as he gave an embarrassed chuckle while scratching the back of his head. "Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Well, thank you for the thought." Dalia readjusted her suit. "I don't know why the machine malfunctioned like that though. The thing was set to shut down when it occurred as a fail-safe measure."

"Who knows." Amber grinned. Jonas was doing his darndest not to smile, nor to give her a halfhearted glare, instead hardening his face into a neutral expression when the clerks eyes wandered between the three of them.

"Hmm. Maybe it was faulty wiring..." She mumbled, looking over her papers. "Lets try another one."

Her words were followed almost immediately by another explosion and the last two simply breaking due to him trying to rein in his flow. It left her scratching her head in exasperation.

"Seriously?!" She nearly shouted in annoyance, hastily scribbling on her clipboard. While he felt remorse, Jonas couldn't say anything about it; at least, not right now.

As it stood, his Aura control was lacking in certain regards. He could remove it as a shield, but that was due to having several months worth of practice. In the beginning, he hadn't even known he could do that until he was told by another fellow some two months. Quite a boon to learn that though, as it meant he could potentially save it for more dire situations. But even with having a weeks worth of training, forcing it out in a non-combative use and into a machine was not easy; especially so with his magic getting in the way.

He had no doubt that with the help of Amber and the others, he would be able to eventually. But he'd definitely need more than a single week for it. Hunters and others who unlocked their Auras had the luxury of taking courses to better manipulate that, and even then that usually took a few years. Less if they trained for several hours a day to do so.

"Well..." She sighed after a moment. "I believe it would be safe to say that the strength of your Aura is on the stronger end of the spectrum. No clue _where_ , but I think it'd be a safe bet to assume so. Do you happen to know what your Semblance may be?"

"No clue I'm afraid." He shrugged. "Still trying to figure it out."

"That's fair. Even the more experienced still don't know what their own is yet." Dalia nodded in understanding, marking it as unknown on the paper. "In any case, that takes care of the Auric Testing, though that's putting it _pretty_ loosely. If you'll follow me, I need to have you stop in a waiting room for the time being so I can prepare the combat portion of your examination. If you have any weapons or items to bring in with you before we begin, now would be the time."

Jonas grinned. Finally, the bit he was best with!

* * *

It didn't take too long for her to come grab him again. Ten minutes at most really. It was enough time to mentally psych himself for the coming battle.

His mind wandered as he walked along what he almost thought was an endless corridor, made almost entirely of metal. Small LED lights were placed near the ceiling; just a scant few inches from hitting the top. They were pretty small though, its length about from ones middle finger down to their wrist.

It was kind of foreboding in a way. Though considering it led up to an arena, it was possible that it was meant to help them get into the right mindset. Certainly did its job. He had taken an express elevator downward, though it made sense. The size of the building itself, while big, wouldn't be large enough to house an arena. And if what Dalia said was any indication; there was more than one down here.

' _I'll have to come by here in my free time to explore.'_ He considered. His metal mask was already on his face before Dalia came back for him, with a set of cowters he made sometime back to protect his elbows. He made sure his movement wasn't compromised. He decided to forego a weapon until his enemies weaponry and skills were made clear.

It was dangerous, he knew, but he had hopes he could at best dodge the attacks. At worst, well he was wearing one of the strongest metals ever seen in this age. That should go to good lengths in protecting him.

A door hissed open at the end of the hall, a light beyond shining brilliantly in contrast.

Although it might have been in bad taste, he couldn't quite resist a quip.

" _Go into the light~._ " He said with faux mysticism, giggling quietly to himself as he passed its threshold.

Beyond was the arena: an immaculate marble flooring with the center raised in the shape of a massive six-point star, with stairs on the end of each point for easy access. A large half-spherical light gave off a orange light, leaving him feeling as if he were fighting in high noon. The walls were made of a cool steel, and were cleaned so thoroughly they looked like a mirror. Three quarters of the way up it ended in a lip, showing a few people all across its precipice chatting and whispering amicably behind an Oaken railing. Idly, he noticed Glynda and Amber off to his right as he walked onto the raised platform.

Holo-screens hung on the walls, colored a dull blue. They abruptly came to life, showing a picture of his face in the corner, along with a meter that begun to fill green. The words 'Hunter Qualification Testing' stood out at the top, and a kill count below that took up almost the rest of the screen; save for the difficulty, which was set to veteran level. He wasn't too sure where that ranked on the board.

' _Huh...Honestly expected someone to be here to test me.'_ He thought curiously, eyes roaming the area to see if the test had started the moment he entered.

The sound of hurried footsteps coming from behind him to the right instantly made him alert, and his head sharply turned towards it. He relaxed when, to his confusion, Dalia ran up to him. His fists unclenched, which surprised him since he hadn't noticed when he did. Must've been more nervous than he thought.

" _Something up?_ " He asked.

"Mostly to...let you know...what the next part...of your test is." She said, taking deep, ragged breaths. She looked to be making another attempt at talking, but instead raised a finger in the air when she couldn't.

" _Take your time. No rush._ " Jonas said sincerely, getting a haggard nod.

She eventually managed to get her breath back, standing straight and fixing her suit.

"In this next test you'll be fighting various atlesian mechs. The longer you survive, the more points you get. And the more of them that will begin appearing, and with varying weaponry."

' _Story of my life.'_ He thought flatly.

Dalia looked about the room nervously, quickly scanning the viewing platform before leaning towards him.

"There's something else though." She whispered quietly. "I don't know what you did, but we we're asked – well, more like _ordered –_ by some flunky from the council to make them harder than normal for you for some reason."

The man perked up at that, staring at her with surprise; though it was hidden by his visor. He abruptly broke into peels of laughter, startling her.

Credit where it was due, they sure moved quickly!

" _Is that right?_ " He bemusedly replied. " _Well. Suppose I'll have to give them a show, won't I?_ "

She leaned away from him, a look of uncertainty on her face, before she nodded and scampered off the platform and through the door.

Jonas looked towards where she once was for a moment, lost in thought about something. He quietly turned back around, slowly taking a deep breath.

" _ **Are you ready to begin, Mister Everblue?**_ " A male voiced called over the intercom. What little noise that was there had all but vanished.

He raised an arm and gave a thumbs up, hoping they had cameras to see it.

" _ **Very well.**_ " He thankfully replied. " _ **Test commencing in** **T** **hree...** **T** **wo...** **O** **ne.**_ "

The temperature quickly dropped; the surface are of the platform turning cold and frozen. Stalagmites of ice quickly grew all over the battlefield, their height eventually far outstripping his.

Well, apparently they could turn the area into whatever kind of biome they wanted for the test. That was neat.

He grinned a hidden grin as several sections of flooring opened up. A couple dozen robots, several to a section, rose out from the openings on hidden platforms; each of them carrying various ranged and close combat weaponry. They were akin to a slightly blocky humanoid. Their heads were faceless; instead having a futuristic steel-coloured helmet with a blue visor, looking like a robotic knight.

Considering their names, that wasn't far off the mark.

{Iron Legion} **  
[ Atlesian Knight-130]  
**(Robot)

 **Health:  
750/750**

 **Current Buffs:  
[Robotic Endurance]:  
Does not tire**

From assault rifles, pistols and shotguns, to swords and shields, maces, ball and chains, and even two handed weapons like a great-axes and spears. A couple stood a ways in the back wielding machine guns.

" _Showtime._ " He mumbled, reaching out a hand and materializing Night's Edge.

Jonas ignored the hushed whispers, instead focusing on the close combatants surrounding him while the those with ranged weaponry tried to move into position.

He wouldn't give them the luxury.

He vanished in a blur, and within a few following moments, two of the knights – Ones with a mace and sword shield combo – abruptly separated from their lower halves. His sword became buried within the torso of one wielding an assault rifle that had got to close before quickly pulling it out. He used it as a shield of sorts as the machine gunners and the other ranged wielders began to try to fill him with lead, kicking the rifle on the ground into his free hand to fire at the head of a knight carrying a great-axe; putting a hole in its head within a few seconds one it managed to penetrate its steel armor. They certainly built them sturdily enough.

A swing came from one with a mace and spear. He deflected the first, and used the new room in order to slide out of the way of the second. Even so, two shots hit him in the back. Their kinetic force was mostly dispersed by his armor, making the shot feel like someone rank right into him. Before it would've felt like a sledge hammer, and done a bit more damage. Negligible by his battle standards, but still. But his Aura, which he had decided to use properly for once, had done its part in absorbing some of the damage. He'd rather it not happen again though. From the look of his aura pool on the screens, those two hits had taken a good thirtieth off him. These little bastards were decked out with the _good_ _shit_ apparently; not to mention the advantage they held with sheer numbers.

The Star Knight moved as they tried to surround him again; decking another ranged combatant with the flat of his blade before slicing it in two, while stunting the movement of another close by that was readying a swing with a quick shot into its knee. The clip for the weapon ran out, as he heard a few clicks, until it began to feed on his own store of bullets. A shotgunner tried to hit him with the butt of the gun, only to hit his shoulder and neck when he craned it out of the way, his armor taking the brunt of the damage. A quick kick sent it flying, sending the weapon out of its hands; which was quickly picked up by him, replacing the previous gun, and used to shoot one of the two machine gunners, before quickly swatting aside a slash from a sword wielder and burying the gun halfway into its chest. Hanging onto it, he pulled the remains into the continued fire of another briefly before kicking both into his assailant. He moved to use the weapons special ability, but was stopped when another two moved to intercept; blocking him from taking the shot, and instead getting a chunk of their chestplates torn off for their trouble as they were pierced through, just barely managing to keep functional. A shout went unheard in the crowd at the sight.

In spite of the damage he managed to dish out, he was still being smartly dealt with by his foe. Their movements indicated a level of proficiency around the level of a veteran, so Dalia's summation wasn't off. The only reason they were having a hard enough time as it was was due to all the abilities he had being able to cover for him, and his own level of skill; including being able to deal with large groups of attackers. With the way he normally fought back during the terrarian days, a lopsided battle like this would've been a cinch; especially so with the strength of their armaments and movement speed. Though they would've been faster in almost any other environment, the icy floors served to hinder their mobility, making it that much harder to deal with him. Ironic, considering their place of origin.

He opted for another choice instead, which would hopefully be more efficient, if not more damaging the surrounding area. If he was lucky, the shrapnel or, god forbid, the projectiles wouldn't hit the spectators. Putting away his sword, Jonas quickly materializing two Vortex Beaters; the second of which he had made only days before. He had surmised that there would be trial by combat, so he thought it might be a good idea to have one for each hand. Made it harder to wield, certainly, but the added firepower helped to compensate for that.

If that didn't work, at least he had his stupidly overpowered backup weapon to deal with that.

The grounds turned into molten slag as he laid shot after shot of plasma, and dust-enhanced artillery into the bots. To their credit, a good several of them had the presence of mind to jump out of the way, but the force of the blast staggered them for a moment; more than long enough to lay waste to a few of them.

They instead opted to rush him, attempting to break his concentration by charging all at once from every possible direction. A good move on their part. He wouldn't last long if they managed to pin him down. Aura or no, enough bodies, let alone ones made of metal and machinery, could weigh a guy down. Such a fate was avoided when he twisted his body; his weapons dispensing bullets in opposite directions as he spun in place, before he jumped high into the air. His rifles never ceased to make some noise at any point.

It was utter destruction. The arena had a steamy fog that slightly obscured the surroundings, and melted spots where plasma bolts landed; showing more than a few holes underneath meant to send more forces into the fray.

Speaking of, it wasn't long before they began to do such. Several platforms rose from both the areas from before, and from the six corners of the platform. Their numbers had more than doubled, numbering over four platoons; several of which were armed with rpgs and grenade launchers now. Even hidden passageways within the walls shot open, more entering the fray; their count quickly reaching almost half a company.

All of this in a cold, icy environment that was likely meant to slow him down as much as it did for them. He doubted that was a coincidence. Those fellas were really trying to set him up to fail, weren't they?

How unfortunate for them though, that water was his elemental affinity.

The rifles were quickly put away, and he wasted no time; popping a wry grin he stretched his arms out sideways. He heard a chorus of voices from those in the spectator seats as a runic circle double his height appeared; bearing the symbol of a teardrop as it slowly turned blue. However, instead of diamonds or triangles on the outside, there was only a small blue circle at the top and bottom, along with two rows of runic script that was a single line that ran underneath the start once it went full circle.

There was a good deal of confusion and surprise from all but two people in the slowly growing crowd, though it remained unnoticed to him.

It was an oldie spell. Greum called it a classic, but he was admittedly a little shit back then, so it kinda stuck. It was his go-to spell in times where they faced a zerg rush, which was often back in the day. His voice echoed as he began to speak in the runic language.

" _ **I call upon the wayward water-born...  
Combine and Divide!  
Unite and Repulse!  
Bare your fangs towards my enemies...  
And leave nothing behind!"**_

The ground trembled as his body lit up, visor turning from black to blue from the glowing of his eyes. The shaking stopped as suddenly as it came, and they heard him shout two words clear as day in perfect atlesian, drawing both hands together with a clap.

 _ **[WATER CAVALCADE]!**_

The Ice that surrounded him began to quickly melt and recede from him, and the fog began to dissipate into water droplets that rained towards the ground; slowly forming a ripple around him that was aided in its growth by both his magic and the dust carried on his coats. He spun in place, his faintly glowing hands spinning the water around in circles, creating two noticeable waves in the water that slowly grew as the terrain, his magic and the dust on his person aided in its development. He slowly devolved into a dance that he was taught to use for the spell. His feet twirled and slid along the floor, waving his arms around as he did so. What looked to be a long body made of water slowly rose and sunk into the water; developing scales on its body and spines along its back as the liquid content increased. A head could eventually be made out; bearing a long snout with twin tendrils grew out from its upper lip, looking eerily like a long moustache, and two horns upon its head that ran straight up, with small flat points running across its length.

The two dragons, now dancing upon the rising waters around it, gave off what looked to be a soundless roar as it charged at the machines, beginning to swallow them. One after another, they were engulfed; struggling in vain to escape. Not really drowning, as they didn't breathe, but swimming with haste in attempts to escape from their unfortunate circumstances. The older and more worn out among them began to twitch and spark as the water entered their inner workings; the force of the attack and capture having opening breaks that had been sealed shut by engineers to prolong their use.

The water constructs swelled into the air, looking as if they themselves were doing a well choreographed dance; matching the pace of his movements almost perfectly. Every bend or turn was matched with a low swing of his arms, legs and torso. Only when he was sure he got as much as he could did he throw his arms into the air, and went into a spin. The beasts twirled around; one beast hopping over the other into the waiting water, nearly forming a liquid dome around Jonas. A new, dark blue runic circle formed when they almost made their apex, this one bearing the symbol of a snowflake. Small flecks of light quickly towards the center as his hands circled around his body, one above and below, before he slammed them into the middle while bearing the shape of a sphere.

The water froze, the dragons turned into ice statues as they gave a silent bellow. The knights lay stuck within the frozen liquid, unable to move or simply shut down from the sudden temperature change, or from the inertia from the speed of their roundabout slamming them into the ice. The glowing blue lights on the few that still operated slowly faded out as the temperature continued to drop.

Even those in the stands could feel it. Though Jonas _still_ failed to notice, instead more focused on his immediate surroundings, even as more spectators had slowly begun to trickle in at a minor pace. A few of them had their arms wrapped around themselves as some shivered and complained. Just as many stared in awe at the spectacle. Something with this degree of style and control was usually done by the hands of people who had been in the profession for decades. Years of work fully honed their abilities into amazing sights; whether it'd be done through weapon, dust, or a combination of both.

Amber herself had her arms wrapped around herself as a cloud of warm air left her mouth, not as surprised as the others. Having been shown his skills since after his arrival had dulled those responses, though the sight was still breathtaking. Glynda had bore witness with a stoicism that would make even the most stone-faced of men and women jealous. How she was reacting inwardly however was a very different story.

Slowly, Jonas reached one hand out...

He snapped his fingers.

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, all of the ice immediately shattered with the bots in tow. Shards of ice glistened in the light as it fell, the larger chunks breaking on impact with the ground while other, more sturdy pieces slammed into the arena grounds; breaking parts of the hidden entry-points. Some of the knights simply fell to the ground and didn't get back up again, while the few that had managed to avoid it were severely hampered from the moisture getting into their gears and circuits and freezing; flat out wrecking arms or legs, or completely shutting them down from their core parts facing much the same fate.

Out of the sixty or so that came out from the second round, only seven of them were still operating in a combative capacity. Thirteen, if he included the ones that couldn't.

They were quickly dealt with, taking the pistol out of one with a badly hindered arm and tearing off its head, and proceeding to deal with the rest of them with it, easily taking them out with a potshot to the head. As the last dropped, he threw away the gun. His took note of the corner of his vision.

 **Aura:  
424/500  
Health:  
500/500  
Mana:  
75/200**

' _Not bad work, I think.'_ He considered cheerily, a finger rubbing under his chin as he looked at his remaining aura, which hadn't changed much. ' _The dust used in the environment and on my coat certainly made things easier._ _Magic like this was a pipe-dream before_ _._ '

Jonas was startled out of his mind from the sudden and loud applause coming from out of the ring. Looking up, he gawked at the sight of the audience, which had numbered somewhere in the twenties or thirties previously, looked to have _tripled_ since. Belatedly he considered if there were screens outside the arenas that let others look on.

Considering how loud the applause was, though that was due in part to the rooms shape, that was probably the case.

Jonas scratched the back of his head, and he was inwardly glad he was wearing his mask.

' _The persecution I can deal with. But this? This I ain't used to.'_


End file.
